Appalling treatment of Heathrow detainees laid bare in damning report
UK Border Agency urged to improve conditions for foreign visitors and refugees
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Independent Minds
Thousands of foreign visitors and refugees who are detained at Heathrow airport each year are forced to endure degrading living conditions and "deep-seated" negative attitudes about their welfare, an independent report concludes today.
The findings will add to growing concerns about the treatment of foreign people held in detention in the UK before they are granted entry clearance or sent home. The report by the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) makes note of cockroaches in Terminal 4 kitchens and the absence of proper washing facilities for detainees held overnight.
The monitors were so angered by one case, the comprehensive failure to care for the needs of a disabled visitor who was travelling to the UK with her young son, that they sought personal apologies from the staff concerned. Some of the visitors held at Heathrow are incoming passengers detained for questioning or refused entry to the UK. Others are brought to Heathrow from immigration removal centres, prisons or police stations to be deported.
The authors said: "The generic term 'detainee' casts no light on the humanity of the men, women and children to whom it is applied. The IMB perceives a deep-seated negative attitude towards their wellbeing while in detention at the airport, at both policy and operational levels." Other language which the report said reflected these views included the use of the phrase "these people" to describe visitors held in what staff inappropriately referred to as "pens".
Between 2008 and 2009, 33,100 people were detained at the airport, of whom 22,000 were detained in holding rooms and 11,100 in Queen's Buildings, which is mostly used for holding failed asylum-seekers before they are returned to their own countries.
The UK Border Agency has hired G4 Securicor to staff the short-term detention facilities but the report makes it clear that the IMB thought the Government had "failed repeatedly to supervise its staff in key areas, all impacting on detainees' welfare."
The IMB called on G4 Securicor to address these issues urgently. It said: "We urge the [UK Border Agency] to take necessary steps, whether in terms of their own processes, or the performance of G4S as escort contractor, to drive down the length of time many are detained. Action is overdue."
There was further criticism of the Terminal 5 detention block which opened last year. The report said the facilities had a number of "design faults": lights could not be dimmed or switched off and air temperature in the holding room could not be moderated, meaning that it was cold all night.
But the monitors reserved their severest criticism for the Terminal 5 lavatories. "We first visited T5 two weeks before it opened and were shocked to see that the lavatory doors had large gaps at the top and bottom. Whatever went on within would be detectable outside in the holding room."
The Home Office denied that detainees were subject to inhumane treatment while held at Heathrow. The IMB has recommended that the Home Office require the UK Border Agency to set up an urgently-needed residential short-term holding facility at Heathrow.
The spokesman said that the UK Border Agency was examining the feasibility of a residential facility at Heathrow.
A UK Border Agency spokesperson said: "We are determined all removals from the UK are undertaken in a humane and compassionate way. The majority of people stopped at Heathrow airport for immigration questioning are on a plane home within eight hours.
"To keep the UK's border secure, we rigorously test all entry cases with fairness and impartiality."
Monitors' anger: A catalogue of failures
A disabled woman and her son held at Heathrow were the victims of a catalogue of "failures and inattention" that typified the experience of many detainees at the airport, the report found.
The woman, an asylum-seeker, had been left slumped in her wheelchair while her son looked on anxiously. "His patent anxiety had seemingly not been noticed. We took him to the bookcase. He jumped at the chance of some children's books," said the monitors.
When they spoke to the woman they discovered that she would be more comfortable lying down but could not do so unaided.
"The Detainee Custody Officers [DCOs] were not willing to help us lift her, because they had not been trained. A Chief Immigration Officer was willing when we told him the problem. We lifted her out of her wheelchair and helped her lie down, on some seats."
The woman's son then removed her socks and started to rub her swollen feet. "We put a couple of pillows under her head. There were no pillowcases and no clean ones in stock. The DCOs leapt into action and handed out crisps," the report stated.
Further failures led to the family spending unnecessary time in detention after they had been granted temporary admission to the UK.
"We were angry at the disgraceful way in which this family had been treated," said the monitors.
Their concerns were reported to UK Border Agency's Detention Services, who pursued them with Border Force and G4 Securicor.
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Comments
The British are racist and ignorant people. At least the lower classes from which these workers are drawn are.
Hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers allowed into the country in the past few years and we are racists?
I think you will find the most racist people in the world tend to be black and brown!
And if the lady above was seeking asylum she must have been coming from a pretty bad place to want to come here. Therefore i can't see how spending a few days in her chair was that bad. Was she being tortured or threatened with death..... eh no!
I'm British, and white, and I'm deeply ashamed of the systematic racism of my fellow citizens. Refusing to acknowledge it is racist in itself. Our detention centres are little better than concentration camps.
Politics can't fix this, since the new rascals will be just as bad as the outgoing ones in this respect. So we are left with this: speak out, and keep speaking out until the people running our country understand that asylum seekers and immigrants are human too. Even the illegal ones - they're still human.
If people are breaking the law then it is enough that the law is enforced, it should not be broken by the enforcers. Causing unnecessary suffering to animals is a criminal offence. When the same treatment is applied to humans it becomes even more despicable.
This country used to be a country which the rest of the world looked up to. It was thought to have thrown off the "rascist and imperial past" and was perceived as becoming an example of justice and freedom to others. Now it can only be viewed as a society infested by by vermin who think that any action is justifiable as long as they can balme it on others.
To think, as one commentator above has said, that this is caused by "muslim shitheads" just shows the sort of mentality we have come to. The a person cannot control himself and behave according to decent moral and legal standards just because of his own confusion, unable to seperate an individuals religion from an individuals behaviour in law, is either malicious or misinformed in fact, or both.
Those who say it is even more rascist in other countries mean what? Surely it can be no excuse for inhumanity, for if we follow that logic then the next time a christian kills someone in this country then we might as well pick the first foreign christian coming into the country who does not have a valid visa do the same them!
The logic leads to chaos, and is exatrly why this country no longer represents the values it once did.
Perhaps those who think it is a good policy to show the world our blatant hate and prejudice could volunteer to do the execution, maybe get some of that hate out of their system, and at the same time show the rest of real humanity their true nature and who they are!
So if you truly care for humanit and this country, and you are reading this, then let your opinions be known. Or else we will soon all be seen and judged by others as what we will surely and truly have become. Dragged down to, and controlled by, the lowest common denominators of any society - racism, cruelty and irrational and illegal behaviour!
I work in the Middle East and illegals are not even treated as humans. I think your getting on the band wagon with the rest of the 'only white people are racist' crew. We are not perfect but we are better than 99% of countries in the world.
Oh, and i bet after our outrageous racist treatment of her she was still allowed in and has decided to stay. But thats just our racist treatment of people oozing out for the world to see..... grow up!
Really? Because that's what you said:
I think your getting on the band wagon with the rest of the 'only white people are racist' crew.
It's not a bandwagon. It's a fact. Non-white people can be racially prejudiced, yes, and that's something we can discuss when it's relevant to the point.
But "Racist" doesn't only mean "judging based on race", it has the additional connotation of "operating from a position of racial privilege". If you're not white (in any nation where the majority of the power is in the hands of white people) you don't have a position of racial privilege to operate from. I suggest you google "white privilege checklist" and begin educating yourself before you use words you don't understand.
The way people are treated should not be dependent upon which route a person entered the country. The way people are treated is dependent upon the way people are viewed by others.
I also realise that many other countries, and not only middle eastern ones, have worse records on human rights then present day GB. I still do not see why treating people inhumanly should be acceptable here though. Are you saying that because other countries are inhumane it gives us the right to be inhumane also?
You say: "
Oh, and i bet after our outrageous racist treatment of her she was still allowed in and has decided to stay." - This is entirely hypothetical unless you have some evidence that what you say is true. If you do not then your statement is yet another example of the irrationality I have already referrred to.
Also, for your information, the treatment of the woman is not an isolated case, and I think you concentrate on it too much. The very first line of the article states that: "Thousands of foreign visitors and refugees who are detained at Heathrow airport each year are forced to endure degrading living conditions and "deep-seated" negative attitudes about their welfare"
So I think it is you who needs "to grow" up and think about the effect of what you write has on the image of this country. Do you really think that this is an image that GB should be proud of?
As you have stated that you prefer to live and work in the middle east, rather than GB, then your comments do not currently affect you directly.
But they do affect me, and so then this is my response to them, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this.
When there is some semblance of logic about them!
The above should have been in responce to:
stuartc44 wrote:
"My point isn't that she has been through worse, it is that she obviously chose to come to our horrid, racist little country before all those other nice places she could have went to!!!!!!!!", etc, etc.
And it is of course ironic that having sold the arms, they people we set out to 'help' now want to leave their native home and come here.
it's not helpful to become emotionally abusive as some posters are when challenged by this sort of unpleasant data. But we must apply the rules to be fair to everyone. As for any racist implications, that is just plain stupid. The rules are the rules. People visit the UK legally from every country on earth. We collect and return the illegal ones. Why is this wrong? Would you give them your job?
Lets face it, this organisation is likely to attract busy bodies and the politically motivated. Most probably, it's a left wing talking shop that cares little for our border controls.
Most likely, members are against detention and abhor the principal of border control. Another organisation to add to the legions that already exist promoting immigrant welfare.
Does the article say whether the woman or her son were of one race or another?
On the other hand, I suppose if one throw a stone into a pack of running dogs, the one who yelps is the one who got hit.
It's simply ridiculous that this is the protocol in modern times.
Where are the interviews with DCO's about the abuse they are issued with? where is it outlined that they are threatened with a variety of allegations if they carry out the role they are paid to do. It is not the easiest job in the world, but the individuals who take the detainees home get attacked, shot at, injured and scared. Do they get paid for that sort of work, I think you will find that very few people do, and certainly not the DCO's.
The comments outlined below are clearly posted by people who have axes to grind. I am simply highlighting the two sides to every story that appears to have gone unnoticed.
As an eduated professional, and not British I am confident that there are imperfections everywhere but other than some aggrieved individuals, where is the hard evidence to support the claims made above. Doesn't this sound familiar, only in previous articles it was aimed at prison staff, police, mental health workers etc . Those in society who do the job that no one else wants?
While we are on it, why should we ask DCO's to lift someone. Legislation states in the health care profession that there should only be moving and handling if the appropriate equipment is available and the right training has been attended and after 14 years in the profession it is well read understood supported and implemented by senior health care staff like myself. Are we therefore expecting these men and women to potentially injure themselves and leave themselves unable to work, because whilst off sick they don't get paid. Or leave themselves open to accusations of causing injury. Had bruising been sustained which is all too easy when lifting someone, then they would have been subject to an assault enquir, possible suspension and loss of job. I support people who will work within policy and I would not expect any of the staff I manage to risk themselves, a client, or their job in any way.
I fly regularly and have been "lucky" enough to have flights cancelled or delayed and as a result I been left sitting in airports on an uncomfortable chair and nothing more than the airport public toilets to refresh myself in. If I want a higher standard i pay for a hotel. Should people who are in breach of the law be entitled or offered a higher standard. I have to pay for pillows, cushions, food etc if I am delayed at the airport. Why should these individuals been offered anything for free.
Didn't the country complain when individuals in high secure hospitals and prisons get "nice" christmas dinners only months ago because they were "criminals" I didn't realise that it was okay to ignore people in one setting but not in another. I haven't read that bit of legislation yet!.
Maybe this as a nation isn't perfect. But it is better than a lot of places. There may not be pillows, but there was not torture, abuse or threats against life etc. The teams that have been referred to here also aren't all english white middle class people, it is a mixed race of people and this company is well known all over the world.
And whilst we are at it and being politically correct, is there any need for the offensive references made in many of the comments below? Shame really.