Asylum Rights Campaign - Statement of Principles on Detention of Asylum Seekers

ARC is opposed to the detention of asylum seekers as a matter of principle – it does not believe that people should be imprisoned unless they have been charged with, or convicted of a criminal offence.

If the government insists on the use of detention in order, for example, to effect removals then we believe the following principles should apply:

1. Children should not be detained under any circumstances. The interests of the child should be paramount and it can never be in the child’s best interest to be detained and never in a prison.
As Her Majesty’s Inspector of Prisons observed in her July 2003 report on Dungavel the key principle “is that the welfare and development of children is likely to be compromised by detention, however humane the provisions, and that this will increase the longer detention is maintained.”
The government should withdraw its reservation in relation to immigration matters from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

2. All detention should be subject to independent judicial scrutiny, in accordance with Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and should be subject to a maximum duration defined by law.

3 The criteria for detention should be set out in the immigration rules and should refer to applicable standards of international law. Written reasons should be given for all decisions to detain

4. Detention should be used only where necessary. This should be for the shortest possible period and only after active consideration of alternatives (for example, reporting restrictions).

5. The UK should adhere to the letter and the spirit of Article 31 of the Refugee Convention. A significant number of people continue to be prosecuted and put into the prison system for arriving using false documentation despite the protection afforded by Article 31 of the Refugee Convention which states that they should not be penalised.

6. Detention should never be used for vulnerable people, including the elderly, pregnant women, those with mental and/or physical health problems, and survivors of torture.

7. Detainees should be ensured access to qualified and experienced legal advice and representation. The proposed restrictions on legal aid by the government are deplorable. These will severely restrict access to and availability of legal practitioners with many experienced firms already announcing their intention to cease practising immigration law.

8. There should be consistency of provision of standards of service between removal centres. It is unacceptable that standards should vary as much as they do – for example visiting hours vary between 19 hours at Haslar and 49 hours at Tinsley House. Efforts should be made to level standards upwards towards best practice, not downwards to minimise costs. Centres should not be run like prisons.

9. Prisons should never be used to accommodate immigration detainees. It is disappointing that the government has failed to honour its commitment to ending the use of criminal prisons made in October 2001.

10. All Centres must have adequate standards of health care comparable to those available to people not in detention. Independence of provision should be ensured by direct management of provision by the National Health Service. There should be a protocol to ensure consistency of treatment throughout the detention estate and procedures to ensure appropriate identification of vulnerable people.

11. All Centres should have a full-time Director of Religion and detainees should have constant access to appropriate religious areas. Members of all religious faiths should have the opportunity of access to representatives of their religious and cultural traditions.

12. All Removal Centres should have provision for a Welfare Officer. The reports from HMIP and Home Affairs Select Committee recommendations have reinforced the need identified through AVID and Visitor Groups. Detainees experience serious material loss and hardship as a result of their sudden detention and there is no current provision to enable them to sort out their affairs.

13. Moves between Centres should be kept to a minimum, should always be clearly explained to the detainee and family and legal representatives informed of any moves. There is great concern about the rapid movement of detainees between Centres, leading to much distress and disorientation and loss of contact with legal representatives. There is also the need to avoid lengthy and unnecessary journeys and waits in vans the source of much distress and discomfort. “There should be proper and humane management of the movement of detainees, particularly those with children”.

14. Handcuffing should only be used in exceptional circumstances where there is evidence of a risk of absconding. People with disabilities and pregnant women should never be handcuffed. There are great concerns about the inappropriate use of handcuffs on people especially during medical visits.

15. Detainees should have access to the Internet and to e mail. This is currently barred by the draft Operating Standards we have seen yet it is an essential part of staying in touch with representatives and family. With the rapidly decreasing availability of access to legal advice it is imperative that detainees have access to information, communication and advice that are now considered the norm for most people except asylum detainees in society.

16. There should be an independent mechanism of complaint at least equivalent to the Prisons Ombudsman. Complaints must be seen to be dealt with in a transparent way in order to encourage detainees to feel secure.

17. The Home Office must produce accurate statistics relating to the use of immigration detention. These should show the length of time people have been detained, at which stage in the procedure they were detained; when released or removed and the number of transfers between Removal Centres.

ARC is a consortium of groups working on behalf of asylum seekers and refugees. It consists of:

∑ faith groups (such as the Jewish Council for Racial Equality (J-CORE); the Society of Friends; the Churches Commission for Racial Justice (CCRJ) and the Methodist Church);

∑ refugee organisations (such as Refugee Council, Refugee Action and Migrant Helpline);

∑ human rights organisations such as Amnesty International; Justice and the Medical Foundation for the Care of the Victims of Torture;

∑ immigration law organisations, in particular Refugee Legal Centre, Immigration Advisory Service and the Immigration Law Practitioners Association; and

∑ immigration detention visiting groups co-ordinated by the Association of Visitors of Immigration Detainees

For further information relating to this statement contact the Chair of the ARC Detention Group;
Richard Lumley at Refugee Council
Tel: 020 7820 3067
E mail: richard.lumley@refugeecouncil.org.uk

ARC Asylum Rights Campaign
A consortium of churches,refugee community groups,agencies and human rightsorganisations
c/o 3 Bondway
London
SW8 1SJ
Campaign Action Line
020 7820 3000
Fax: 020 7582 9929

Co-Chairs
Fazil Kawani
Zrinka Bralo

Treasurer: Louise Zanre

Source for this Page:
Asylum Rights Campaign
http://www.asylumrights.org/detention.htm