Asylum in the news

 

At the forefront of asylum news this week has been the reaction to the recent hunger strike at Yarl’s Wood detention centre in Bedfordshire. A group of at least 40 female detainees began their strike a week ago in protest against the length and conditions of their detention. 

 

When the women gathered together outside of their rooms, officials responded by locking them in a corridor, in order to ‘separate them from other detainees’. They were kept here for 5 hours without ventilation. Some felt compelled to escape through windows out into the freezing cold. Even as one detainee suffered an asthma attack, staff apparently failed to provide her with an inhaler.

 

The Home Office has denied any wrong doing and insists the measures are only temporary. 

The women have in the mean time spoken out through the National Coalition of Anti- Deportation Campaigns, and have raised a series of concerns regarding the treatment of detainees in Britain.

 

 

An independent investigative group has highlighted critical failures in Britain’s asylum system. The parliamentary ombudsman has found evidence of widespread administrative inefficiency in the UK Border Agency. This, it concluded, was despite the Agency’s progress in addressing the applications backlog of recent years.  

 

The report focused chiefly on the excessive delay in dealing with asylum applications and subsequent procedures. Reference was made to a Somali man who waited 8 years to receive status documents following his asylum application in May 2000.          

 

Shortcomings in the system were also found to have a negative impact on the public’s perception of asylum seekers. Prolonged detention caused by administrative delay acts as a significant drain on public funds. This, the report claims, has lead to feelings of resentment among certain sections of the public.      

 

 

The Guardian has brought to light another instance of detainee mistreatment. Louise Perrett claims to have exposed a culture of malpractice and prejudice at the Border Agency office in Cardiff, where she formerly worked as a case owner. According to her experience, senior management actively encouraged staff to reject asylum applications. In addition to this, certain detainees were subjected to humiliating rituals in order to prove their stories. 

 

Louise’s complaints were met with derision by officials so, after seeking legal advice, she decided to go public in order to raise awareness of these issues. These revelations have prompted chairman of the home affairs select committee Keith Vaz to call for a Parliamentary inquiry.  

 

 

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has launched an inquiry into the police and immigrations services. The inquiry, headed by civil rights lawyer Lady Kennedy, will investigate allegations that the UK authorities are illegally disregarding the human rights of human trafficking victims. 

 

According to Amnesty International and the Commission, the UK may be treating these victims as illegal immigrants rather than coerced sex slaves whose presence in the UK is by no means voluntary. If this is the case the UK would be in breach of its obligations under international treaties, and would moreover be failing to address a grave violation of human rights.