May announces review into UK immigration detention

By The Press Association9th February 2015News EnglandAsylum, Immigration, News England, Refugees / Asylum, Review

The welfare of immigrants held in detention centres in Britain is to come under the spotlight after a far-ranging review was launched.

Home Secretary Theresa May said Stephen Shaw, a former prisons and probation ombudsman, will lead the review into whether improvements can be made to protect the health and wellbeing of detainees and those being escorted in the UK.

Mrs May unveiled the plans as a long-awaited and more specific review into the mental health of detainees by the Tavistock Institute was published.

It found healthcare staff in immigration removal centres, such as Harmondsworth and Yarl’s Wood, had reported feeling overwhelmed and exhausted by the volume of mental health cases and demands made on them.

The Home Secretary said: “Immigration detention is a vital tool in helping ensure those with no right to remain in the UK are returned to their home country.

“But I take the welfare of those in the Government’s care very seriously and I want to ensure the health and wellbeing of all detainees, some of whom may be vulnerable, is safeguarded at all times.

“That is why I have asked Stephen Shaw, who has a wealth of relevant experience, to undertake a comprehensive review of our immigration detention estate.

“We are building an immigration system that is fair to British nationals and legitimate migrants, but we must also ensure it treats those we are removing from the UK with an equal sense of fairness.”

The review, which will begin in the coming weeks, is expected to last six months and will not report back until after the general election in May.

But refugee groups said a review fell short of what was required – abolishing the immigration detention estate entirely.

Refugee Council chief executive Maurice Wren said: “Sadly, this review won’t even scratch the surface of the ugly cover-up occurring at the heart of the British justice system.

“What is needed is an end to the process by which anonymous officials are given the power to lock up people for as long as the Home Office sees fit, not because they have committed any offences, but because it’s politically expedient to do so.

“If the Government was serious about justice, human rights and protecting vulnerable people, then it would recognise that the immigration detention estate is a product of the Dark Ages. Ministers should focus their efforts on consigning the whole shameful process to the history books.”