LONDON, July 9 — Conditions at an immigration detention centre in the United Kingdom have been labelled the “worst” in the country by a watchdog, who described the “chaos” he discovered there “truly shocking”, German news agency dpa reported.
Chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor said he was so concerned by what he found at Harmondsworth immigration removal centre near London’s Heathrow Airport that he raised his concerns with then home secretary, who did not respond.
Violence and drug use were rampant at the site in west London, having “substantially increased” since inspectors last visited.
There have also been several serious suicide attempts at the “decrepit” building that can hold close to 700 men, according to findings published today.
The number of assaults have doubled since the last inspection, and drug-taking, which is typically rare in immigration removal centres, was “widespread”.
Inspectors noted that they “could smell cannabis and saw detainees openly smoking in communal areas without being challenged by staff, who largely kept to offices with ‘do not enter’ tape across their doors”, the watchdog said.
Taylor said: “The level of chaos that we found at Harmondsworth was truly shocking and we are deeply concerned that some of those held there were at imminent risk of harm.
“Nobody should be detained in an immigration removal centre unless they are going to be removed quickly from the country, yet around 60 per cent of detainees were released from the centre, with only a third deported, which raises the question of why so much taxpayer money was being spent keeping them locked up in the first place.”
Taylor wrote to former home secretary James Cleverly on March 12, after the inspection between February 12 and 29, “setting out the many failures at the centre”, but has “received no response”, said the watchdog.
— Bernama
