The futility of indefinite immigration detention is laid bare in a recent report by the London Detainee Support Group (LDSG), No Return No Release No Reason.
Full report here in pdf: No return, No release, No reason – challenging indefinite detention Sept 2010
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. The UK should end its derogation from the EU Returns Directive and adopt a maximum time limit for detention. The evidence shows that extended detention more often leads to release than deportation. The UK should follow best practice in the EU and implement a time limit of one month.
2. Likelihood of imminent deportation should have priority in decisions by UKBA and the Tribunal to initiate and continue detention. Detention, if it must be used, should only be used for deporting and removing people. Where this is not imminent,
deportation can be pursued while the person is in the community.
3. The detention of mentally ill people should end. The distress and psychological deterioration caused to mentally disordered detainees is disproportionate to the ends sought by immigration control.
4. Decision-making by UKBA and the bail courts should be evidence-based. Assessments of risk to the public should be undertaken by the National Offender Management Service, and should form the basis of risk assessments in considering
detention or community-based alternatives. UKBA should only assert a high risk of absconding in an individual case where a clear evidential basis exists. UKBA should publish its internal management information on procedures and timescales for obtaining travel documents from all national embassies. This information should be considered by the Tribunal in assessing whether
deportation is imminent.
5. Where deportation is not imminent, communitybased alternatives to detention should always be used. UKBA should study the successes of the Swedish and Australian models, which have achieved high rates of voluntary return through an emphasis on dialogue with asylum-seekers and migrants in the community. Continue reading “Deportation imminent – detention indefinite”
The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) publishes today a report on deaths of asylum seekers and migrants which damns government policies for putting vulnerable people at risk.