Inquiry calls on UK to limit stay of detainees at immigration removal center

An inquiry into mistreatment of detainees at an immigration removal center near the Gatwick Airport has called on the British government to bring a limit of 28 days for holding detainees. 

The public inquiry into Brook House Immigration Removal Centre, near Gatwick Airport, found a "toxic" culture among staff at the site.

Kate Eves, a prison safety expert who is leading a probe into the mistreatment of Brook House detainees shown in a BBC expose in 2017, says there’s a “toxic” culture among the staff at the removal center.

Currently, there is no maximum period for holding detainees while they wait to be deported or fight for asylum.

The Brook House Inquiry Report found 19 instances over a five-month period that amounted to mistreatment contrary to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects detainees from inhumane, degrading treatment or punishment.

Those instances include forcibly moving detainees while naked or near naked, unnecessary pain used on four detainees, and the use of inappropriate and humiliating comments against two detainees during suicide attempts.

The chair has made 33 recommendations which, if implemented, will ensure what happened at Brook House does not happen in the future and provide a more humane, compassionate, and professional environment, the 246-page report said.

The government is urged to act on the inquiry, which warned that a failure to act on previous recommendations was a "dark thread that runs through this report."

Eves has called on the Home Office to respond within six months.