23 September 2023 , 18:48
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Home Office safeguards are still failing vulnerable refugees held in detention in Britain, a report has found.
It comes after a damning report found 19 incidents of the mistreatment of detainees at Brook House immigration removal centre (IRC) in 2017. Home Secretary Suella Braverman acknowledged the "failings in both oversight and governance to protect the welfare of detained individuals" at the centre and her department will "carefully consider the findings".
But research by advocacy group Medical Justice found dozens of recent cases where people with serious mental health issues were kept in detention, which they said made their conditions worse. One man, “Mark”, who the group’s doctors diagnosed with PTSD, said he’d told IRC staff he’d had suicidal thoughts while in detention and tried to harm himself several times - but claimed nurses “laughed” when he attempted self-harm.
“How can you laugh at this situation?” he told the group. “How are you laughing when someone is trying to kill themselves?” Medical Justice assessed 66 migrants in immigration detention between June 2022-March 2023.
They found being held in detention had "harmed" all 66, and detention had caused the mental state of 64 to "deteriorate.” Of the 66, the group say 63 had at least one mental health condition - including diagnoses of PTSD, anxiety disorder, psychotic illnesses including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
'I wouldn't have made Channel crossing if I could apply for asylum from abroad'
And they had concerns about 7 detainees’ mental capacity.
Of the 66, they said 51 had evidence of torture, 29 had evidence of a history of trafficking - and 25 had both. But while the group believe all the detainees they re-examined should have been released on mental health grounds - only 7 were granted release following an official assessment.
Another man, “Samuel”, who fled to the UK after being tortured, had to wait 17 days for the assessment - and said it was an “absolute disaster.” He said the doctor that saw him “must have been on a timer bonus, because within minutes he wants you out of the consultation room.”
He claimed the doctor had noted on the report that Samuel did not have any scars - but had not examined him or asked him whether he did. Medical Justice’s doctor later found scarring on his body from the torture. Samuel was later reassessed and the Home Office agreed to release him, but he was kept in detention for a further five months waiting for the department to find “suitable” accommodation.
The Home Office said it takes "the wellbeing and safety of those in our care incredibly seriously" (PA)Emma Ginn, Director of Medical Justice said: "Since it was founded in 2005, Medical Justice has warned the Home Office that clinical safeguards are not working. Now this public inquiry has found the safeguarding system to be "dysfunctional", putting vulnerable people at risk of deteriorating in their health, and of mistreatment, finding that 19 people were subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment within a 5 month period at this one detention site.
"Medical Justice's dossier based on 66 recent detained client cases shows that safeguards failed in all 66 cases. This chimes with the Inquiry concluding that systemic problems with safeguards have not evolved and remain in place today." She added: "Furthermore, the government now aims for the mass incarceration of asylum seekers, including men, women, and children on an unprecedented scale, knowing the harm that detention causes. This is both shameful and cold-blooded. We agree with the British Medical Association that immigration detention should be phased out."
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We take the wellbeing and safety of those in our care incredibly seriously and there are robust safeguarding measures in place to ensure individuals have access to the support they need. It is vital that detention and removal to safe countries is carried out with dignity and respect, and we will accept nothing but the highest standards from service providers contracted to manage the removal estate and the escorting process.”