The steady growth in the use of immigration detention under the UK's New Labour government has been, it is argued here, mirrored by the concurrent development of a new form of labour market within immigration removal centres (IRCs). This market has grown out of the long history of what some label as exploitative employment practices used amongst the wider prison population. It relies upon a subtle form of coercion which ensures compliance and discipline and, in so doing, provides a cheap and easily exploitable pool of labour for private sector companies. The research for this article draws on findings from prison inspection reports and the annual reports of independent monitoring boards.
Lord Bassam,‘Immigration Detainees (Hansard, ColumnWA182, House of Lords, 13 March 1999 ).
2.
Amnesty International, Seeking Asylum is Not a Crime: detention of people who have sought asylum (London , Amnesty International, 2005).
3.
Bail for Immigration Detainees, Briefing Paper on Immigration Detention in London March 2009 (London, Bail for Immigration Detainees, 2009).
4.
See, for example, Bail for Immigration Detainees , Obstacles to Accountability: challenging the immigration detention of families (London, Bail for Immigration Detainees, 2007); and Christina Pourgourides, ‘A second exile: the mental health implications of detention of asylum seekers in the UK , Psychiatry Bulletin (Vol. 21, 1997 ), pp. 673-4.
5.
London Detainee Support Group, Detained Lives: the real cost of indefinite immigration detention (London , London Detainee Support Group, 2009), p. 30.
6.
The use of the private sector in the penal system can be traced at least as far back as the Middle Ages and the use of ‘jail keepers . Moreover, convict ships transporting prisoners were operated by private contractors. Nevertheless, the contemporary architecture of prison privatisation is much more recent and, according to some commentators at least, can be traced back to 1970 when Securicor Ltd was given the contract to operate immigration detention facilities at four different airports. See Michael Cavadino and James Dignan, The Penal System: an introduction (London, Sage Publications , 2002), pp. 229-34.
7.
Christine Bacon, The Evolution of Immigration Detention in the UK: the involvement of private prison companies (Oxford, University of Oxford Refugee Studies Centre, 2005).
8.
National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns, ‘UK detention capacity @ 19 April 2009 , <http://www.ncadc.org.uk/about/capacity.html> ; (Downloaded 12 May 2009).
9.
HM Inspectorate of Prisons, Report on an unannounced full follow up inspection of Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre ( London, HM Inspectorate of Prisons, 2008), p. 18; see also Campsfield Independent Monitoring Board, Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre: Annual Report 2008 ( Campsfield, Campsfield Independent Monitoring Board , 2009).
10.
Dover Independent Monitoring Board, Annual Report of the Dover Independent Monitoring Board for the period: 31 January-31 December 2008 (Dover, Dover Independent Monitoring Board, 2009), p. 16.
11.
See <http://ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/managingborders/immigrationremovalcentres/dover>.
12.
See <http://ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/managingborders/immigrationremovalcentres/dungavel>.
13.
HM Inspectorate of Prisons, Report on an unannounced full follow up inspection of Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre (London, HM Inspectorate of Prisons, 2008), p. 53.
14.
See <http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/managingborders/immigrationremoval centres/ harmondsworth>.
15.
HM Inspectorate of Prisons, Report on an unannounced follow up inspection of Haslar Immigration Removal Centre (London, HM Inspectorate of Prisons, 2007), p. 12.
16.
Lindholme Independent Monitoring Board, Annual Report for the Period 1 February 2007 to 31 January 2008 ( Lindholme, Lindholme Independent Monitoring Board, 2008).
17.
See <http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/managingborders/immigrationremoval centres/ lindholmeremovalcentre>.
18.
HM Inspectorate of Prisons, Report on an announced inspection of Oakington Immigration Removal Centre (London, HM Inspectorate of Prisons , 2008), p. 49.
19.
HM Inspectorate of Prisons, Report on a full unannounced inspection of Tinsley House Immigration Removal Centre (London, HM Inspectorate of Prisons, 2008).
20.
See <http://ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/managingborders/immigrationremovalcentres/ yarlswood>.
21.
Colnbrook Independent Monitoring Board, Annual Report 2008: Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre ( Colnbrook, Colnbrook Independent Monitoring Board, 2009), p. 8.
22.
Joe Black , ‘Prison works? , Criminal Justice Matters (Vol. 74, 2008), p. 6.
23.
Ibid.
24.
Dover Independent Monitoring Board, op. cit., p. 4; Kent Police donated around 500 lost or stolen bikes for the project and, according to their communications department, the scheme was beneficial for detainees as it would ‘teach them useful mechanical and repair skills that they can use when they return to their home countries . Kent Police, ‘Police donate bikes for cycling scheme helping children in the Gambia , Kent Police Press Release (27 May 2008), <http://www.kent. police.uk/ Your%20Area/South%20Kent/South_Kent_news/Bikes_for_The_Gambia.html>.
25.
Avery F. Gordon, ‘Globalism and the prison industrial complex: an interview with Angela Davis , Race & Class (Vol. 40, No. 2/3, 1998/9), p. 148.
26.
Joe Sim ,‘Militarism, criminal justice, and the hybrid prison in England and Wales , Social Justice (Vol. 31, No. 1-2, 2004), p. 39.
27.
Joe Black, op. cit.
28.
Home Office, Detention Services Order 15/2008 Paid Work (London, Home Office, 2008).
29.
Corporate Watch, ‘Migrants exploited for cheap labour…even in prison (23 September 2008), <http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/?lid=3133> ;.
30.
Dover Independent Monitoring Board, op. cit , p. 13.
31.
Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: the birth of the prison ( London , Penguin, 1975/ 1991 ), pp. 124-5.
32.
Dover Independent Monitoring Board, op. cit , p. 13.
33.
Colnbrook Independent Monitoring Board, op. cit, p. 8.
34.
Home Office, op. cit, p. 1.
35.
Ibid.
36.
Campsfield Independent Monitoring Board, op. cit, p. 40.
37.
Cited in Corporate Watch, op. cit.
38.
HM Inspectorate of Prisons, Report on an announced inspection of Oakington Immigration Removal Centre, op. cit., p. 13.
39.
Emily Dugan , "Alarming rise in self-harming at detention centres , Independent (31 August 2008), <http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/alarming-rise-in-selfharmingat-detention-centres-913909.html> ;; for further information on self-harm see Medical Justice, ‘56 case-studies by Medical Justice , Medical Justice (1 January 2008), <http://www.medicaljustice.org.uk/content/view/15/50/>.
40.
See the discussions in Harmit Athwal, Driven to Desperate Measures ( London, Institute of Race Relations , 2006); Harmit Athwal and Jenny Bourne, ‘Driven to despair: asylum deaths in the UK , Race & Class (Vol. 48, no. 4, 2007), pp. 106-114.
41.
Alan Travis , ‘Migrant detention centre uses staves banned in low-security prisons , Guardian (27 November 2007 ), < http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/nov/27/immigration.immigrationpolicy> ;.
42.
See Jon Burnett and David Whyte, The Wages of Fear: risk, safety and undocumented work (Liverpool and Leeds, University of Liverpool and Positive Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers, 2010).
