The Institute of Race Relations has over the last twenty-three years been monitoring the 508 deaths in custody in suspicious circumstances of individuals from BME, migrant and refugee communities, which rarely make the headlines and for which no person is ever convicted (to be published as the report Dying for Justice). Here, in an extract, the author examines the culture of racism and the impact of privatisation and sub-contracting in the detention and deportation of ‘failed’ asylum seekers. In case after case it exposes how the vulnerable, mentally- and physically-ill are neglected – leading to deaths by self-harm and inadequate treatment. The death during deportation of Joy Gardner, which involved disproportionate and reckless use of force, is examined in depth. The use of equipment of control for those who are clearly fearful of being forcibly returned, remains a vexed issue.
A young man came to our offices after making a visit to a south London prison, where he said an unclaimed black man’s body lay in the prison morgue. ‘Who’, he asked, ‘is monitoring such deaths? Is it something you should do?’
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After it was found in 2006 (under Labour Home Secretary Charles Clarke) that foreign national prisoners had been released and disappeared, having served their sentences, it has been the policy to detain all such prisoners indefinitely following their term – until their removal is arranged. Some cannot be returned if their countries are considered a human rights risk.
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The dehumanising effect of deportation policies was highlighted by Liz Fekete almost a decade ago in The Deportation Machine (London, Institute of Race Relations, 2005) in which she wrote of EU policies as a juggernaut ‘armour-plated against corrosion from any sense of compassion and responsibility’ which, she warned, would draw in more and more professionals into the business of deportations which ‘violate all our basic human values’. It was this systematised ‘globalisation of indifference’ that she again drew attention to in ‘The globalisation of indifference’, IRR News (20March2014).
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The total capacity of the immigration detention estate was around 3,500 in December 2012 but was set to increase to 4,000.
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There are twelve immigration removal centres in the UK; three are run by the Prison Service (Dover, Haslar and Morton Hall); the rest are operated by private companies (Brook House, Campsfield House, Colnbrook, Dungavel House, Harmondsworth, Larne House, Pennine House, Tinsley House, Yarl’s Wood).
The latest revelations about the abuse of vulnerable women at Yarl’s Wood related to sexual abuse by staff. See File on Four (BBC Radio 4, 24June2014) and TownsendMark, ‘Serco whistleblower’s Yarl’s Wood sex claim’, The Observer (24May2014).
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Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, Investigation into allegations of racism, abuse and violence at Yarl’s Wood Removal Centre (March2004).
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Prisons and Probation Ombudsman for England and Wales, Inquiry into allegations of racism and mistreatment of detainees at Oakington immigration reception centre and while under escort (July2005).
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It was reported that one Roma woman held at Yarl’s Wood had reported ‘having had sexual contact with three male guards’ and that ‘attempts were made to deport her within days of her informing Yarl’s Wood’s management of the incidents. She also claims one security guard had inappropriate relations with at least four women.’ Mark Townsend, ‘Detainees at Yarl’s Wood immigration centre “facing sexual abuse”’, The Observer (14September2013). And in 2014, a whistleblower revealed that Serco had failed to ‘properly investigate a claim of repeated sexual assaults’, in TownsendMark, ‘Serco whistleblower’s Yarl’s Wood sex claim’, Observer (24May2014).
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According to John Vine, the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, ‘595 foreign nationals were held under immigration powers in prisons at the end of August 2012’, in Immigration: the effectiveness and impact of immigration detention casework: a joint thematic review by HM Inspectorate of Prisons and the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders (December2012). In January 2011 over 1,600 FNPs were detained in prison beyond their sentence, a quarter of them for over a year (Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration [ICIBI], Thematic inspection on how UKBA manages foreign national prisoners, 2011).
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‘A performance measure shall occur if any known incident of deliberate self harm occurs resulting in physical injury requiring any form of healthcare intervention and involves any failure to follow procedures for the safety of detainees as set out in Schedule…’ (Private email correspondence, 29June2005).
In recent months, Serco and G4S have been criticised in government inquiries into various contracts. Serco and G4S have held the contract to house asylum seekers across most of the UK since January 2013, with G4S and Serco operating in four of the six areas (the other contractor being Clearel). A National Audit Office investigation found that, in some areas, there were delays of three months as ‘G4S and Serco struggled throughout preparations for and during transition to establish a robust and reliable supply chain’. These same contracts have come under scrutiny from the Home Affairs Committee; its chair, Keith Vaz, commented: ‘We were alarmed to discover that thousands appear to be living in squalid run-down housing as part of the COMPASS contract supplied by the private contractors G4S, Serco and Clearel. These companies must be held accountable and deliver a satisfactory level of service. It is unacceptable that in 21st century Britain thousands of people are forced into destitution due to the inefficiencies of the system.’ National Audit Office, COMPASS contracts for the provision of accommodation for asylum seekers (January2014), available at: http://www.nao.org.uk/report/compass-contracts-provision-accommodation-asylum-seekers/; Home Affairs Committee, Asylum (October2013), available at: http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/home-affairs-committee/news/131011-asylum-rpt-published/ Many of these companies are also major providers of other government services. G4S operates the Work Programme (which attempts to help people get and stay in work) in some areas in the UK, and Serco operated the ‘Boris Bikes’ scheme in London (a contract which it lost in July 2014). In November 2013, the Serious Fraud Office commenced a criminal investigation into G4S and Serco electronic monitoring contracts after it was revealed that the firms had overcharged the Ministry of Justice and charged for work that they had not completed. In March 2014 G4S agreed to repay the government £108.9 million plus VAT. See National Audit Office, The Ministry of Justice’s Electronic Monitoring Contracts (November2013), available at: http://www.nao.org.uk/report/the-ministry-of-justices-electronic-monitoring-contracts/
Although Brian Dalrymple is not from a BME community, his shocking treatment and lack of care afforded him in immigration detention are illustrative of many of the failings.
TaylorDiane, ‘Detention centre failures contributed to death of asylum seeker, inquest finds’, Guardian (25May2012) and Prisons and Probation Service Ombudsman, Investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of a man at Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre in July 2011, available at: http://www.ppo.gov.uk/docs/Colnbrook_-_2_July_2011_-_Death_of_a_male_detainee.pdf
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O’BrienParaic, ‘Another death in Harmondsworth: who was Alois Dvorzac?’ Channel 4 News (18March2014).
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HMI, Report of an unannounced inspection of Harmondsworth IRC, 5-16 August 2013 (January2014).
A recent Independent Monitoring Board report into Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre highlighted the problems in monitoring such deaths: ‘There was a further death on 17th November 2012. The detainee [Jakana Chowdhury] died in hospital in the early hours of that day, having been in hospital for several days. He was placed in intensive care during the evening of 16th November and was only at that point released from detention. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, whilst having power to investigate the death of a recently released detainee, has decided not to investigate this death because he has insufficient staff resources’ (Annual Report 2012), available at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/corporate-reports/imb/annual-reports-2012/harmondsworth-2012.pdf All deaths in police and prison custody are routinely reported to the Howard League, INQUEST and the Prison Reform Trust, but the same is not true of deaths in IRCs.
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HM Inspectorate of Prisons, ‘Detainee escorts and removals: a thematic review’ (London, HMIP, August2009).
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HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, ‘Detainees under escort: inspection of escort and removals to Nigeria 20–21 April 2011’ (London, HMIP, 2011).
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In ibid, the inspectors reported on a senior officer who ‘used wholly unacceptable terms to describe some minority groups; these included “gippos”, “pikeys” and “typical Asians”. This was not in the hearing of detainees, but it could be heard by other officers and communicated a disrespectful and racist attitude.’ And that ‘some staff not seated with detainees had inappropriate conversations with each other which could have been overheard by detainees. One discussion involved extremely offensive racist language with reference made to “fucking pikey cunts”.’
Birnberg Peirce & Partners, Medical Justice and the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns, Outsourcing abuse: the use and misuse of state-sanctioned force during the detention and removal of asylum seekers (London, July2008).
