A report released today by HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) has found that, although the number of people in immigration detention has fallen significantly during the coronavirus pandemic, a high proportion of those who remain in detention are vulnerable adults. It also highlights that many of those still in detention have been locked up for ‘extended periods’, despite the fact that ‘the prospect of removal [from the UK] appeared remote’. As the report explains, ‘if there is no reasonable prospect of removal, immigration detention ceases to be lawful’.
For the report, HMIP undertook day-long inspection visits to four detention centres: Yarl’s Wood, near Bedford; Harmondsworth, near Heathrow; Brook House, near Gatwick; and Morton Hall, in Lincolnshire. The report explains that all four detention centres had ‘dramatically reduced their populations since March 2020’. It goes on to highlight, however, that ‘there was a high level of assessed vulnerability among those who remained in detention’. The report sets out that about 40% of those who are still in detention have been recognised as vulnerable by the Home Office, under its ‘Adults at Risk’ policy.
The report also explains that more than a fifth (22%) of those still locked up in detention had been held for more than six months, and 12 had been held for more than a year. HMIP emphasises that ‘in many cases, removal during the pandemic seemed unlikely’. As they explain, very few removals from detention have actually taken place since the pandemic began, and ‘few were scheduled’. The findings of the report raise serious questions, therefore, about the legality of the Home Office’s use of immigration detention while the coronavirus pandemic is ongoing.
The report also highlights that the Home Office has continued to detain people even when they have coronavirus symptoms. During HMIP’s visit to Yarl’s Wood, ‘one man was placed in protective isolation after arriving with symptoms at the Yarl’s Wood residential short-term holding facility’. Additionally, the report documents how women locked up in Yarl’s Wood have been tasked with cleaning the detention centre during the pandemic. It explains that ‘a small group of detainees at Yarl’s Wood cleaned door handles and surfaces throughout the day’. People held in detention are paid just £1 an hour for the work that they do.
It’s time to end the harmful practice of immigration detention.
Read the full report here.