Two weeks after the UK’s Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the government’s plan to outsource asylum processing to Rwanda is unlawful, the UN Committee against Torture expressed concerns about Denmark’s plans to externalise asylum processing to Kigali. […]
United Kingdom
Immigration detention in United Kingdom(from the report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture 2023 visit to United Kingdom)
A. Background information; (Read full CPT report) 8. The CPT visit to the UK in March and April 2023 took place at a time when the Government was announcing its increased determination to detain and remove all foreign nationals2 who did not have a right to reside in the UK. Particular emphasis was being made […]
Mandatory Detention for all Irregular Arrivals, and Funding a Detention Centre in France? The Latest from the UK
Over the past week, the UK has proposed a number of controversial and extraordinary measures aimed at stopping irregular migration, including proposing new legislation that imposes mandatory detention for anyone crossing the Channel by boat as well as a joint initiative with France that includes helping pay for a new detention centre there. On 7 […]
A GDP Assessment of the Centre for Policy Studies’ Proposals for UK Detention Reform
On Monday 6 December, the London-based Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) released a report containing proposals for UK asylum reform. Titled Stopping the Crossings: How Britain can take back control of its immigration and asylum system, the report is an unambiguous attempt to spur a “radical policy shift and decisive action” to cut the number […]
United Kingdom: Covid-19 and Detention
A short-term holding facility for newly arrived migrants and asylum seekers has been denounced for “catastrophic overcrowding” and “grotesque treatment,” with the country’s Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration reporting that he was left “speechless” by the conditions he observed inside. Thousands are currently detained in Manston Processing Centre where rights groups argue a “humanitarian […]
United Kingdom: Covid-19 and Detention
The number of victims of trafficking detained in the UK has likely tripled in the past five years, says a new report published by the Helen Bamber Foundation in early October. Despite broad recognition of the vulnerabilities faced by trafficking and slavery victims, the report says, the UK government is treating survivors as criminals rather […]
United Kingdom: Covid-19 and Detention
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on 14 April that “from today, anyone entering the UK illegally as well as those who have arrived illegally since January 1 may now be relocated to Rwanda. Rwanda will have the capacity to resettle tens of thousands of people in the years ahead.” The UK claims that the […]
United Kingdom: Covid-19 and Detention
In late October, reports emerged of far right groups targeting hotels where Afghan refugees were being accommodated. Britain First and other far right organisations say they are concerned at the cost of resettlement of Afghan refugees. According to the Guardian, Britain First has made several unsolicited visits to hotels housing refugees, trying to approach refugees […]
United Kingdom: Covid-19 and Detention
A surge in COVID-19 cases notwithstanding, UK authorities are continuing to arrange deportation flights. On 21 July, a flight to Zimbabwe departed with an estimated 14 persons on board. The first mass-deportation to Zimbabwe in years, media reports state that the flight marked the start of a planned “summer season” of deportations organised by the […]
United Kingdom: Covid-19 and Detention
Cross-party parliamentarians have urged UK Home Secretary Priti Patel to cease the use of former military barracks for confining asylum seekers. In a letter to the Home Secretary, members of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Immigration Detention wrote: “We do not believe such sites provide the safe, stable accommodation that people seeking asylum […]
