About 30,000 people a year (including children), most of them asylum seekers, are administratively detained in Immigration Removal Centres around the UK. No one knows how long their detention will last, but it can be anything from a few days to a few years. Most detainees have distressing or traumatic histories, including violence and torture; high levels of stress, depression, self harm and suicidal thoughts are common.
Although the immigration authorities have held the right to detain since the 1970s, it was not until the 1980s that detainees were held in any significant numbers. Originally intended to control visa abuse and illegal entry by students, workers and others, immigration detention has increasingly become used as a part of the process of organising asylum claims in the UK. The majority of those detained under immigration act powers have claimed asylum in the UK at some stage. Current UK immigration policy allows for detention to be used in this context to prevent absconding, to establish identity, to remove people from the UK at the end of their asylum or immigration case and for the purposes of making a decision on a claim for asylum that is deemed to be “straight forward” and therefore “capable of being decided quickly”. At any one time, there are around 2000 detainees held in the UK’s IRCs. Many immigration detainees (about a third) are not removed, but released into the UK. There are ten immigration removal centres (IRCs) in the UK. Most are run by private companies contracted to the Borders and Immigration Agency. Three are run by the Prison Service.
MID works with an array of partners ranging from IRC management staff to individuals who, outside of the partnership, actively oppose the use of detention. The point on which these representatives converge, and the starting point for MID’s work, is the recognition that detention is a stressful experience that has a damaging impact on the well-being and mental health of those held. Separation from friends and family in the UK, the indefinite nature of detention which may last days but can last years, the threat of imminent removal to countries that for many bring painful memories and inspire fear, and a lack of access to legal advice and information, means detention can be stressful, depressing, and frustrating for many of those held.
IND list of IRCs:
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/managingborders/immigrationremovalcentres.htm/
Bail for Immigration Detainees fact sheet:
http://www.biduk.org/immigration/facts.htm
HMIP Inspectorate reports of IRCs:
http://inspectorates.homeoffice.gov.uk/hmiprisons/inspect_reports/irc-inspections.html/
Amnesty International – Seeking Asylum is not a crime:
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=10150
BBC Q&A: Immigration Detention:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3910193.stm