Detained migrants are being locked up in their rooms for more than 13 hours a day in “degrading” and insanitary conditions, in breach of their human rights. Detainees are not held because they are suspected of criminal offences and should therefore not be treated like prisoners.
The lock-in regime and living conditions psychologists say is likely to have a “highly adverse effect” on detainees’ mental health.
All those held at the Brook House Immigration Removal Centre are locked in their rooms every night between 9pm until 8am, and again during two other “lock-ins” carried out during the day between 12pm and 1pm and again at 5pm and 6pm – amounting to a total of 13 hours. Asylum seekers and other migrants are sent to Brook House when the Government wishes to establish their identities or facilitate their immigration claims.
The conditions are exacerbated by the fact that their rooms reportedly contain toilets with no doors or screens, meaning they must use the toilet in the presence of others detained in the room.
Research shows that the detention of immigrants can have a highly negative impact on their wellbeing. A study by the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP) earlier this year found that more than half of detainees have some form of mental health condition.
Dr Piyal Sen, from the RCP, told The Independent the act of locking people up in their rooms while in detention would likely place them at even higher risk. He said: “There is a wealth of research showing that any form of detention has a negative effect on people’s mental health. And immigrants are at even higher risk. A lot of them will have experienced some sort of detention before. They might have been a victim of torture, or subjected to various means of inhuman treatment. A lot of research shows that such people with past trauma of such nature are far more vulnerable to detention. Being locked up within detention would make this even worse. Evidence shows that locking these people in a confined space can have a highly adverse effect on their mental state.”
Celia Clarke, director of Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID), a charity that offers detainees legal advice and representation, said the current situation in Brook House showed there had been a “woefully inadequate” response from the Government since the Panorama investigation in September. “Following the Panorama programme’s undercover footage of abuse and cruel treatment of detainees in Brook House, there has been a woefully inadequate response. It is clear that the situation in Brook House is still completely unacceptable for detainees,” she told The Independent. "We urge the government to condemn this and to take immediate steps to ensure that detainees, if they must be detained at all, are held in humane conditions.”
Puja Nandi, public law caseworker at Duncan Lewis, who is representing the claimant, said: “They are mocked by detention staff, turned away from healthcare and subjected to segregation as well as inhumane cell conditions. This endless list of degradations amounts to a monumental failure by the Home Office to ensure dignity for the detainees. As my client told me, ‘It is like hell in here’. All detainees should be treated with humanity and respect"
The lock-in regime and living conditions psychologists say is likely to have a “highly adverse effect” on detainees’ mental health.
All those held at the Brook House Immigration Removal Centre are locked in their rooms every night between 9pm until 8am, and again during two other “lock-ins” carried out during the day between 12pm and 1pm and again at 5pm and 6pm – amounting to a total of 13 hours. Asylum seekers and other migrants are sent to Brook House when the Government wishes to establish their identities or facilitate their immigration claims.
The conditions are exacerbated by the fact that their rooms reportedly contain toilets with no doors or screens, meaning they must use the toilet in the presence of others detained in the room.
Research shows that the detention of immigrants can have a highly negative impact on their wellbeing. A study by the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP) earlier this year found that more than half of detainees have some form of mental health condition.
Dr Piyal Sen, from the RCP, told The Independent the act of locking people up in their rooms while in detention would likely place them at even higher risk. He said: “There is a wealth of research showing that any form of detention has a negative effect on people’s mental health. And immigrants are at even higher risk. A lot of them will have experienced some sort of detention before. They might have been a victim of torture, or subjected to various means of inhuman treatment. A lot of research shows that such people with past trauma of such nature are far more vulnerable to detention. Being locked up within detention would make this even worse. Evidence shows that locking these people in a confined space can have a highly adverse effect on their mental state.”
Celia Clarke, director of Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID), a charity that offers detainees legal advice and representation, said the current situation in Brook House showed there had been a “woefully inadequate” response from the Government since the Panorama investigation in September. “Following the Panorama programme’s undercover footage of abuse and cruel treatment of detainees in Brook House, there has been a woefully inadequate response. It is clear that the situation in Brook House is still completely unacceptable for detainees,” she told The Independent. "We urge the government to condemn this and to take immediate steps to ensure that detainees, if they must be detained at all, are held in humane conditions.”
Puja Nandi, public law caseworker at Duncan Lewis, who is representing the claimant, said: “They are mocked by detention staff, turned away from healthcare and subjected to segregation as well as inhumane cell conditions. This endless list of degradations amounts to a monumental failure by the Home Office to ensure dignity for the detainees. As my client told me, ‘It is like hell in here’. All detainees should be treated with humanity and respect"
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