Deportation flights saw 'inhumane treatment' of detainees, new report finds

21 May 2021, 00:04

Deportation flights organised by the Home Office last year saw "inhumane treatment" of detainees, according to a report.

An "atmosphere of tension, fear and despair pervasive among detainees" at Brook House, near Gatwick Airport, were found, while a Serco employee was seen remarking an asylum seeker "can't be allowed to show that self-harm will stop deportation".

That remark appeared to have been made after a man had attempted self-harm.

The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) found serious concerns at the facility, in a report published by volunteers who found "distressing" statistics about mental health in the detainees.

High levels of self-harm and suicidal ideation - with high numbers of people needing constant supervision due to those concerns - as well as serious delays in assessing torture claims were identified in its report.

Serco, which began running the facility on May 21 2020, said it was taking action to address "rare occasions" of staff expressing "desensitised points of view".

The Home Office said detainee welfare is "of the utmost importance".

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The IMB volunteers were asked to examine custody conditions by ministers.

They found men detained at Brook House last year were generally treated humanely and staff-detainee relationships were usually positive, despite "very challenging circumstances".

Brook House has capacity for up to 448 people but fewer were held during the pandemic. It was used to house people arriving in the UK via small boats in the Channel in the latter half of 2020, pending their removal through an EU mechanism.

After Brexit meant that mechanism no longer applied to the UK, the Home Office set up charter flights.

Brook House IMB chair Mary Molyneux said: "While we consider that men detained in Brook House are generally treated humanely, the impact of the Home Office's unusually compressed charter flight programme on an especially vulnerable population led to unprecedented levels of self-harm and suicidal thoughts and attempts in the last five months of 2020.

"Our concerns were such that we wrote to the Home Office minister about them in October. These flights stopped in December."

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Bella Sankey, director of charity Detention Action, said the "most explosive finding" in the report was that Home Secretary Priti Patel's "continuing policy of rushed mass expulsions has led directly to a sharp increase in suicide attempts and self-harm".

Steve Hewer, Serco contract director at Gatwick Immigration Removal Centre, said: "We are pleased that the IMB recognises that detainees are generally treated humanely at Brook House in what was a challenging year with the impact of Covid.

"As the Board also notes, relationships between Serco officers and the detainees appear generally positive and they have highlighted that on numerous occasions Board members have recorded observations of detainees being treated with dignity and respect and have witnessed good interactions and relationships.

"Members have also recorded examples of detainees telling us that they feel they are treated well."

Staff numbers have increased and training refreshed since Serco took over management, he said, and added that it has been made clear to staff the "rare" desensitised remarks are "unacceptable".

A Home Office spokesperson said: "The health and welfare of those in detention is of the utmost importance. We have clear, established processes to ensure people at risk are given extra support and the report demonstrates that these are used appropriately.

"We are glad that the report acknowledges the work done by staff in very challenging circumstances and that those detained were treated humanely.

"Immigration detention is always considered on a case-by-case basis and we will continue to work to ensure that the needs of those in detention are met.

"But, as the public would expect, we remain determined to remove those with no right to be in the UK."