Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons, who conduct independent inspections of both prisons and immigration detention centres, have today released its report on its June 2017 unannounced inspection of Yarl’s Wood detention centre.  You can read the report here. Yarl’s Wood is perhaps the most famous of the UK’s sites of detention (find out more about the others through the Unlocking Detention project), and holds around 300 people – mostly women, but also adult family groups and… Read more »

Last week, the government quietly announced that they will be closing the Verne – one of the nine immigration ‘removal’ centres (IRCs) sprawled across the UK. Luke Butterly of Right to Remain writes here about the closure in the context of the ongoing campaign to end detention. At anyone time around 3,000 migrants are held in these centres, and around 30,000 people pass through each year. People can be detained for months and sometimes years,… Read more »

This is the response today from the Detention Forum to the news that The Verne Immigration Removal Centre is to close In a letter to key stakeholders, the Home Office has today announced the closure of The Verne Immigration Removal Centre. It is understood that the centre will be closed at the end of 2017 as ‘part of wider operational planning around the detention estate’ and will be re-purposed back into a prison. The Verne… Read more »

Detention is violent, harmful and immoral By Right to Remain Tonight, BBC Panorama broadcast undercover footage filmed in Brook House detention centre.  The footage was extremely upsetting – showing staff verbally abusing people in detention in very vulnerable situations, and reporting their own physically abusive behaviour.   The programme showed just how dehumanising detention is – of both those detained, and those that work there.  “If he dies, he dies” said one guard about a man… Read more »

The Detention Forum has issued a statement in response to the news of G4S suspending its staff as part of abuse investigation. ‘We welcome the news that G4S has suspended nine staff members who are being investigated over allegations of abuse. We understand that this action was triggered by BBC Panorama’s undercover documentary which will be aired on Monday next week. Such allegations must be thoroughly investigated. Any form of abuse is unacceptable. However, scrutiny… Read more »