Self-harm rising faster than detention estate population, with almost two incidents a day in first five months of 2024
The Byline Times website reported today that figures obtained under a Freedom of Information (FOI) request revealed that rates of self-harm at immigration detention centres in the UK are increasing.
Image credit: WikipediaThe figures showed that were 513 self-harm incidents in the 12 months from June 2023 to May 2024, which is a 67% increase over the 308 instances of self-harm in the corresponding period in 2022/23.
While there was an increase in the number of people held in immigration detention in 2023/24 over 2022/23 (up 51% in the year to March 2024), rates of self-harm are rising faster than that of the detention estate population.
In the first five months of 2024, the figures obtained by the Byline Times showed that there were almost two incidents of self-harm a day at UK immigration detention centres. A total of 285 incidents were recorded from January to May 2024.
According to the Byline Times, there were 81 incidents of self-harm at Heathrow's Colnbrook immigration removal centre in the first five months of 2024 and 66 incidents in the same period at Brook House in Gatwick.
In response to the figures in the Byline Times article, Detention Action said on X: "The rate at which self-harm has soared in immigration removal centres is alarming. … The worsening conditions and lack of effective safeguards in detention centres are making it difficult for vulnerable people to access vital health care and the support they urgently need before they self-harm. We are urgently calling on the Home Office to address these failings in healthcare and safeguarding in immigration detention. If left unaddressed, it is clear that the outcomes for people detained could be tragic."
Medical Justice, which is a charity that works to uphold the health of people in immigration detention, described the figures as "alarmingly high".
A Home Office spokesperson told the Byline Times: "We take the welfare and safety of people in our care very seriously and it is vital that detention and removals are carried out with dignity and respect. There are established procedures in place in every Immigration Removal Centre to minimise self-harm, with formal risk assessments on initial detention and systems for raising concerns at any subsequent point."