Note submitted by the Refugee Legal Centre
DETENTION
The Refugee Legal Centre has acted as representative
to many asylum seekers who have been detained at Campsfield House
in Oxford, at Rochester Prison, and at detention centres, and
we can therefore provide submissions on the basis of our experience.
The submission follows condemnation from the Chief Inspector of
Prisons, Sir David Ramsbotham, of Britain's system for dealing
with asylum seekers as a "complete and utter shambles".
We are aware of numerous instances of asylum
seekers attempting suicide, harming themselves, or going on hunger
strike in protest at their continuing detention. Asylum seekers
who are detained in prison have committed no offence, but are
often subject to the same prison rules and the same prison discipline
as those convicted of criminal behaviour. Unlike convicted criminals
sentenced to imprisonment, asylum seekers are detained for an
unspecified period of time. This makes detention particularly
difficult for people to bear. There is little judicial supervision
of detention. Detained asylum seekers do not benefit from a presumption
of bail, as do people charged with a criminal offence. Unlike
other detention centres, Rochester prison does not allow detained
asylum seekers to be contacted by their legal representatives
by telephone. The sense of isolation and despair felt by people
subject to these conditions will sometimes lead to acts of desperation.
Do the Home Office propose the introduction of a less inhumane
system, where asylum seekers are detained only in exceptional
circumstances, under judicial authorisation and for limited periods?
What measures are the Home Office considering to address the concerns
of the Chief Inspector of Prisons, particularly as they relate
to the performance of Group 4 at Campsfield House?
We have dealt with a sufficient number of instances
to suggest that they are not isolated, where the client has been
detained for several months, only to be subsequently recognised
as a refugee. Reasons given for detention are often so brief as
to be wholly inadequate. Without the provision of any reason for
detention, the system will be viewed as being arbitrary, unfair
and inefficient. Do the Home Office propose to give detainees
a detailed and informative reason for their detention? Is it a
Home Office concern that asylum seekers are being detained in
prison, without ever having committed a criminal offence?
Detention is frequently used as a method of
deterrence against asylum seekers, aimed at making conditions
so objectionable to asylum seekers that they will not pursue their
claims, it seems. Is this view in dispute?
Policies which were abhorrent to the Government
in principle appear now to be found to be acceptable and expedient
in practice. Britain has more people in detention for longer periods
of time than any other European country. A proportion of these
are eventually recognised as refugees. Does the Home Office have
any desire to change detention policy from that committed to by
the previous administration?
SLOVAK ROMA
In several court cases which took place on 6
March, the RLC has demonstrated that, on the basis of the objective
evidence on the Slovak Republic, the Home Office has not been
able to justify the certification of Slovak Roma cases as being
"manifestly unfounded". As Adjudicators are overturning
certificates in Slovak Roma cases, has the Home Office had the
opportunity to reflect on the labelling of the cases as "abusive"
in various public statements? Does the Home Office accept responsibility,
through its intemperate language, for the resultant press profile
that Slovak Roma cases suffered?
BACKLOG
It is submitted that a backlog clearance programme
of some sort is necessary, if the Home Office wishes to achieve
the objectives set out in its paper outlining Labour's approach
to asylum and immigration, entitled "Fairer, faster, firmer".
In this paper, it is considered that delays leave genuine applicants
in limbo, cost the taxpayer money, and encourage unfounded applications.
What sort of backlog clearance programme is currently being considered
by the Home Office? When will it become operational?
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