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| Britain |
| UK asylum riots could be repeated, report warns |
| 2007-07-26 |
| Riots which erupted in Harmondsworth and Campsfield House immigration removal centres could happen again, an official report warned yesterday. It blamed overcrowding, poor physical conditions and problems in handling casework for contributing to the disturbances which destroyed a block at Campsfield, Oxfordshire, in March this year and caused extensive damage to Harmondsworth, near Heathrow, last November. The review, commissioned by the Home Office, calls for better staff training, more information for detainees and legal representatives, and tighter controls on foreign prisoners kept with those refused asylum. The report's author, Robert Whalley, said: "The underlying causes are still there and, without any changes, the same thing could happen again at either establishment." He said the two incidents were very different, but noted that both occurred when "population pressures ... were accompanied by dislocation in casework handling, especially in the case of foreign national prisoners". He added: "Much benefit would be gained, and much frustration relieved, by giving more attention to basic office disciplines and courtesies such as answering faxes, returning phone calls, checking information is accurate and giving regular updates." Mr Whalley also noted that foreign prisoners tempted to join in disturbances had little to lose, because they were already facing deportation. But realistically they would continue to be held with those refused asylum, because of pressures on the prison system. The Harmondsworth riot broke out after the chief inspector of prisons criticised "aggressive" and "intimidating" staff there. Yesterday's review describes her remarks as a trigger for events, but not a cause. Lin Homer, chief executive of the Border and Immigration Agency, said it had begun implementing changes, as well as building a new centre at Gatwick and rebuilding Harmondsworth. She added: "Detention is an essential element in the enforcement of immigration control." But Donna Covey, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said the report detailed "fundamental flaws" with the centres, adding: "Detention is not an appropriate way to deal with people who are seeking, or who have sought, asylum in the UK. These are people who have committed no crime, and who are often extremely vulnerable, yet who have been locked up in circumstances where there is little access to information, who don't know how long they will be imprisoned, and held in centres that are poorly run and badly managed." Damian Green, the shadow immigration minister, said the government should stop holding foreign prisoners with failed asylum seekers. |
| Posted by:lotp |
| #2 Also to be repeated? Peterloo. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-07-26 10:32 |
| #1 Good old government workers. |
| Posted by: gromky 2007-07-26 03:12 |