Haslar failing its most vulnerable inmates – report
CONCERN Haslar immigration removal centre in Gosport.
INSPECTORS have said the Haslar Immigration Removal Centre is failing some of its most vulnerable inmates.
Despite praising it for improvements in accommodation, a report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons raised concerns over the treatment of detainees believed to be children or victims of torture.
It said recommendations made following an inspection in 2009 about how to deal with cases where a prisoner’s age is unknown or torture is suspected had not been put into practice.
In one case an Iranian youngster spent more than a month in detention because his age was disputed and was only released after his solicitor threatened legal action.
Fears were also raised that case workers had a ‘dismissive’ attitude towards inmates who claimed to have been tortured.
The report claims one man who told staff he had been burned with cigarettes did not have his injuries investigated and so continued to be detained.
Chief Inspector of Prisons Nick Hardwick said: ‘This report describes some significant progress since the last inspection.
‘However, we were concerned that there had been minimal progress on our recommendations regarding immigration casework and we expect the UKBA to address these continued failings, which impact significantly on what was otherwise an impressive centre.’
In his report he added: ‘It was of particular concern that procedures to safeguard the most vulnerable detainees, those who might be children and those who might not be fit to be detained, potentially as a result of torture, were not robust.’
Haslar is the UK’s oldest operating immigration detention centre.
The centre has a total of 160 beds housing a total of 135 inmates.
Following its last inspection in 2009, inspectors said it had some of the least suitable accommodation in the immigration detention estate and provided an environment that was potentially unsafe.
Addressing this issue in the latest report, Mr Hardwick wrote: ‘A refurbishment programme had greatly improved the quality of the accommodation.
‘Noise levels were considerably reduced and the atmosphere was calmer.’
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Comments
There are 20 comments to this article
Page 1 of 2
liverpoolboy
Tuesday, November 1, 2011 at 07:47 PM@17 , Should they have to report to you ? Just to let you know what they are doing ?
dave3974
Sunday, October 16, 2011 at 08:10 PMthere is a need for a quicker process , but this does demonstrate what a soft touch we are
pugman106
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 07:49 AMblimey - i wish i could get every friday morning off work to go to church !!
CTR
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 10:24 PM@16 - If you stand on Fratton Road at about 11am on a Friday you will see hundreds of people dressed in middle eastern national dress en route to the mosque. I have no problem whatsoever with this but my question is where are these people on a daily basis? I do not see them in the street, cinema, pub, theatres, concerts etc, etc? They generally tend to stay within their own family environment and live their lives according to their own particular cultural background. I do not think this is very multiple-cultural, in fact it is exactly the opposite! The enforced Social Engineering is not working!
turktowner
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 10:11 PMKeith who said anything about enforcing anything? I don't think we necessarily need to, far less forcing something on those of us already here. The vast majority of immigrants would neither want nor expect that! Let's be clear - all immigrants are not the same so the example you give is not really accurate. I know many immigrants and you are right they do tend to speak their own language - English! As for mixing with other cultures I must have a word with my wife and tell her to get involved more! :-) The serious point I'm making though is the example you give is a generalisation based it would seem on a perception of certain asian immigrants. Not all immigrants from that area necessarily fall into the pattern you describe, -frequently to the contrary- but besides that we have people from various backgrounds living here so you cannot generalise based on a seemingly stereotyped profile of one "type" of immigrant when we have many different nationalities amongst us be they from a EuropeanAfricanAsianCaribbean country. You say "seldom do they mix with other cultures" but just as a genuine question - how often do you? To talk of "mixing with other cultures" actually sounds like quite hard work and a bit socially awkward but all I suppose we are talking about is largely "making friends with people who incidentally are of a different origin" as we go about our lives which is probably closer to the mark. In general we just do that in Britain which is why we generally tend to rub along quite well regardless of origin. I'm not pretending everything is perfect everywhere in the UK today but we've had lots of different immigrants come here in the past and they sooner or later just became "us" not the other way round.
CTR
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 07:38 PMTurktowner - Enforced multiple-culturalism will never work. England is a prime example as the numerous groups of non English born spend their lives in their own community, speaking their own language and following their own culture! Seldom do they mix with other cultures! If you attempt to force an alien way of life on indigenous people by social engineering then you are doomed to failure!
turktowner
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 04:50 PMLOL @ Beiroot. So we're the only country in the world that has a free NHS or free education? Get real! As for soft touch penal system, you're now suggesting that anyone who comes here does so based on possibilities for committing crime and getting away with it?
beiroot
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 04:33 PMI thought they come for the weather and not the free NHS or the free education or the soft touch penal system.
turktowner
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 02:08 PMFair comment Pugman106. No offence taken whatsoever! I don't claim to have all the answers either, but I would suggest though that UNLIMITED EU immigration vs. tightly controlled Commonwealth immigration is illogical and unfair (especially when ability to speak English as a requirement only applies to Commonwealth -the cheek!- and other immigrants but not to those from the EU!). Controlling Commonwealth immigration whilst holding the door open to the entire EU makes no sense if we are trying to control numbers - or is there a more unpleasant agenda at work here? Scumstopper - wow, I agree with pretty much everything in your post. We should punish anyone abusing any entitlement be they British or otherwise. We should also bear in mind -as you say- that we only hear negative things about refugees (or in fact immigrants in general). As my grandfather once said: "never underestimate the British" - my belief is that we as Britons have a far stronger identity and culture than we perhaps realise and we will absorb recent immigrants as we have previous generations. We CAN build a "multi-cultural society to live in harmony" in fact we have largely already achieved it already whatever the tabloid media might tell us. Most immigrants (particularly those from the vast majority of Commonwealth countries i.e. where English is either the first or official language due to the legacy of our empire) can and do readily adapt to life in the UK.
The Gosport One
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 02:03 PMHow do they get to England without first entering another EU country , should they not have been stopped at EU borders or sent back to the EU country that let them in ? Put them in 1st class hotels and send the bill to the person organisation that 'carried' them into this country, while their cases are investigated. Cigarette burns hardly proof of torture as they could be self inflicted to gain asylum
Scumstomper
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 01:14 PMIts too little too late now regardless. The damgae has been done. The gates have been flung open far too wide. Admittedly there are genuine cases but, as with everything else, we only ever hear about the dodgy ones. Examples need to be made of the parasites and scroungers that openly admit they contribute nothing and prey on the so called "good will" afforded to them. This is our weakness as is trying to build a complete multi-cultural society to live in harmony. It will not - ever - happen.
pugman106
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 12:53 PMturktowner - as i said i don't know the answers but am entitled to my opinion that something must be done to stem the tide.Perhaps as you say we should pay more attention to kinshipskill base etc.this is obviously a subject close to you and your family and i apologise if my perhaps uneducated comments caused any offence
turktowner
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 12:23 PMSorry - Last comment 7 was directed at Pugman106 comment 5....
turktowner
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 12:19 PMNot so. Investigate the phrase "no recourse to public funds". It is worth remembering that many other European countries take in more refugees than us both in numbers and proportion compared to native population. This is not something the press reports keenly as it isn't as emotive as "Britain swamped" and isn't part of their agenda. We are NOT a soft touch. I know many immigrants, in fact am married to one and I could tell you some stories about this. Getting into Britain is an arduous, expensive and difficult process and genuine ties of marriage or kinship, skills, good character, self-reliance and ability to offer something to the country are not considered by the authorities. Visa fees amount to thousands and of course there is "no recourse to public funds" even if you wanted it. If you're from the EU however then you're in no questions asked, but that is another matter. As for refugees, I would suggest the fact that they either have some knowledge of English or want to develop some alongside a perception of us being a more important or prosperous country than say Austria or Belgium influences those that come here. The tabloid press promote this nonsense about soft touch Britain and the so called lure of benefits and as we know they never lie about anything do they?!
Scumstomper
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 12:02 PM@ TurkeyTowner. I did indeed read the article, however my words digressed to the sad truth that we are a soft touch in the UK. Our prisons are like holiday camps. Offenders openly admit they don't mind going inside and often, they are more comfortable than at home. Prison should mean punishment not a repreive from day to day llifeiving. As far as holding centres, in my opinion, left, right or down the middle, we shouldn't even have them in the first place. We should send all these "refugees" back to where they came from. Sob stories aside, it is not OUR problem. Human rights campaigners and all the do gooder, tree hugging, earth lovers need to get a reality check and realise the damage that is being done to our fallen country
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