Voluntary body says processes to prevent vulnerable migrants from being detained are ineffective
The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB), which is a voluntary body that monitors the welfare of prisoners and immigration detainees, last week released its new National Annual Report.
Image credit: WikipediaThe 38-page report is available here and covers adult prisons, young offender institutions, and immigration detention.
See pages 24 to 34 for the section on immigration detention. It details the IMB's widespread concerns about the safety of those held in immigration removal centres (IRCs) in 2023.
As the report notes, the number of people in immigration detention at the end of 2023 was 54% higher than at the end of 2022, with a significant contributing factor being time-served foreign national offenders released from prisons into IRCs as part of the Government's operation to ease prison overcrowding.
The IMB says that throughout 2023, too many people remained detained across the IRC estate after their release or bail had been authorised, some for many months, mostly due to considerable delays in securing or approving accommodation.
Concerns are also raised over the continued detention of vulnerable migrants. The report states: "Processes to identify and safeguard people deemed vulnerable (including those who have a serious mental health condition or have experienced trafficking or torture) were ineffective, as were mechanisms to prevent their detention in the first place. Too often during 2023, those known to be at risk of harm according to Home Office policy were nonetheless detained or kept detained for too long."
In summing up its key concerns for the year, the IMB's report says:
• The number of people entering the immigration detention estate increased throughout the year, contributed to by an increase in time-served foreign national offenders.
• Detained people were held for long periods without any realistic prospect of removal.
• Too many people remained detained, some for many months, after their release or bail had been authorised.
• Detained people were held in inappropriate places – such as controlled waiting areas, escort vehicles and police stations – for too long, partially due to Border Force staffing shortages and the distances of airports used for removal flights.
• It was commonplace for people detained in STHFs [short-term holding facilities] to be held beyond the statutory 24-hour time limit and this has increased since 2022.
• Vulnerable people were being placed at risk of harm by being detained. Overall, the processes intended to prevent vulnerable people from entering detention, and safeguard them in detention, were ineffective.
• While immigration detention was generally safe, serious incidents, disorder, violence and security breaches were at a high level; the use of separation increased; and the number of people at risk of suicide or self-harm in detention increased.
• People's basic needs – such as food, mattresses and medication in detention and prompt access to toilets on charter flights – were not always met.
• The health and wellbeing of detained people was adversely affected by their lack of timely access to hospital appointments and prescription medication.
• Interpreters and translation services, essential for detained people to understand the immigration process, were not consistently used or offered in IRCs, STHFs, or on charter flights.
• Lack of communication and engagement from the Home Office on how their immigration cases were progressing created frustration and distress among detained people.
On the lack of access to prescription medication, the report notes that IMBs first raised concerns about this as far back as 2017, but it remains unresolved and no risk assessment has been carried out. The IMB warned that this could have potentially fatal consequences.
Elisabeth Davies, the IMB National Chair, added: "In the immigration detention estate, it is shocking that Home Office policy continues to deny some detained people of their prescription medication, and that we continue to see vulnerable individuals detained, despite the processes in place intended to prevent this."