Concerns raised in previous inspection in 2020 remain, and people are now being held longer
A new report published today by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons (HMI Prisons) looks at conditions for asylum seekers and migrants detained on the Kent coast after crossing the English Channel in small boats.
Image credit: UK GovernmentThe 40-page report can be downloaded here. It examines detention facilities at Tug Haven and Kent Intake Unit (KIU) in Dover, and Frontier House in Folkestone. Tug Haven is run by the Home Office, and KIU and Frontier House are run by the contractor Mitie Care and Custody.
As we reported on EIN last October, HMI Prisons' previous inspection of the same facilities raised serious concerns over poor and inadequate conditions which were found to be not fit for purpose.
The new report finds that despite some limited progress, detainees continued to experience very poor treatment and conditions at the facilities. In addition, people were now being held in all facilities for even longer than at the last inspection.
At Tug Haven, many people, including families with young children, spent over 24 hours in tents with no sleeping facilities.
Kent Intake Unit remained inadequate, with the main holding room described as "wholly unsuitable" for the numbers of people being held. Detainees could be held for several days in very poor conditions. Charlie Taylor, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, said: "Detainees were confined to a permanently lit room without access to fresh air or even the chance to look outside because of the frosted windows. We observed 40 people in the holding room, barely able to move and unable to rest properly after exhausting journeys. Records showed that others had recently been held there for three to four days. There was only one shower at KIU, and detainees were not always told that it was available."
Inspectors found that there were concerning weaknesses in the screening of detainees at the facilities.
Unaccompanied children were held with unrelated adults, which had at times resulted in significant safeguarding concerns. Women who said they had been raped by people smugglers were not adequately supported.
The report states: "Vulnerable detainees could be detained for many hours, even after their vulnerability was identified. We saw no evidence of such detainees receiving prompt specialist support. One woman was held for almost a day after disclosing she had been raped repeatedly by a smuggler five days before she left France. She was described as suicidal and 'inconsolable'. On release, she was housed in unsuitable initial accommodation holding both male and female asylum seekers. In this case, the detainee had not been flagged as a potential victim of trafficking in the Home Office's case management system. No referral has been made under the [National Referral Mechanism] and there was no record that the possibility of referral had been discussed with her."
In addition, children were held for long periods with little appropriate supervision or facilities and with inadequate checks on their welfare and needs.
HMI Prisons notes: "Both accompanied and unaccompanied children were held far too long, for an average of 28 hours in the KIU and 33 hours at Frontier House, and were routinely held overnight in holding rooms without adequate sleeping facilities. We were told by Border Force staff that many children were held for extended periods at Tug Haven, sometimes overnight, but the Home Office was unable to provide records of how long they were held there."
Inspectors found that the Home Office routinely breached the statutory prohibition on the detention of unaccompanied children for more than 24 hours. The longest detention of an unaccompanied child was for 3 and a half days.
In one very concerning incident in June 2021, a 14-year-old boy arrived at the KIU and disclosed that he suffered from severe mental illness and had previously attempted to take his life. The boy ended up being restrained by staff in an excessive and potentially dangerous way.
Inspectors said: "At the start of the incident an officer kicked the boy with some force, before dragging him to the ground with one arm around his neck. Throughout the incident there were too few staff to restrain him safely, and there was repeated use of unauthorised and potentially dangerous techniques with no paramedics on site to conduct a prompt check of any injuries. Mitie had referred the incident to the police and the Home Office’s professional standards unit, and both investigations were ongoing. One of the staff involved no longer worked for Mitie and the other two remained suspended."
In concluding the inspection, Charlie Taylor said: "It is unclear why there had been such delays following the assurances that we were given by the Home Office after our last inspection. Leaders told us of difficulties in coordinating the various partners whose cooperation was required, but this was not a sufficient explanation for why, one year later, we still found people being held for even longer in conditions that were so inadequate."
A separate, accompanying report by the Dover Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB), available here, summarises the conditions found at Tug Haven and the KIU at an inspection carried out in October 2021.
The IMB says: "These observations have been highlighted in a separate report because the Board is extremely concerned about the continuing – and worsening – conditions in Dover, believing these should be highlighted as a matter of urgency."
The IMB described conditions at Tug Haven as "deeply troubling".
The report notes, for example: "The Board has been made aware of an increasing number of injuries amongst migrants – in particular fuel burns and cuts and bruises to feet – which are not being picked up at the Tug Haven and which also have the potential to be missed at the KIU and Frontier House. One particularly serious case reported to the IMB involved a 16 year-old with serious fuel burns which went undetected for two days."
Dame Anne Owers, National Chair of the IMBs, commented: "IMBs have continued to raise very serious concerns about the conditions and treatment of cross-Channel detainees, both on initial arrival and on the subsequent journey through the detention system, culminating in the events described in these reports. It is clear that urgent action is required."