Immigration detention

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Immigration detention is the policy of holding certain groups of unauthorised arrivals in detention until a decision is made by immigration authorities to grant a visa and release them into the community, or to repatriate them to their country of departure. Mandatory detention is the practice of compulsorily detaining or imprisoning people seeking political asylum, or who are considered to be illegal immigrants or unauthorised arrivals into a country.

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[edit] Asia

Several Asian nations are known to imprison immigrants on visa violations or for alleged trafficking, including the victims of trafficking and smuggling. These include Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

[edit] Australia

Main article: Mandatory detention in Australia

In Australia, immigration detention was revived in 1992 for all foreigners who arrive in Australia without a visa. That only 'border applicants' are subject to detention has sparked criticism, as it is claimed to unfairly discriminate against certain migrants.[1] Other unlawful non-citizens, such as those that overstay their visas, are generally granted bridging visas while their applications are processed, and are therefore free to move around the community. The long-term detention of immigrant children has also sparked criticism of the practice by citizen's groups such as ChilOut and human rights organisations. Australia has also sub-contracted with other nations to detain would-be immigrants offshore, including Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Nauru. Australia also maintains an offshore detention camp on Christmas Island.

[edit] Ukraine

In the Ukraine "Temporary Detention Centres" are run by the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, responsible to the President.[2]

[edit] United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has ten detention centres which can be used to detain migrants or asylum seekers. Often the maintenance of these centres are undertaken by private companies contracted by the government.

The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act (2002) formally changed the name of "detention centres" to "removal centres".

The centres are:

Additionally, some prisons detain migrants or asylum seekers purely under Immigration Act powers, usually if they have been serving a prison sentence which has expired. There are also four short term holding facilities in Manchester, Dover, Harwich and Colnbrook.

The British government has been given powers to detain asylum seekers and migrants at any stage of the asylum process.[4] The use of asylum has increased with the introduction of the process of 'fast track', or the procedure by which the Immigration Service assess asylum claims which are capable of being decided quickly. Fast-tracking takes place in Oakington Reception Centre, Harmondsworth and Yarl's Wood.

There are three situations in which it is lawful to detain an asylum seeker or migrant.

  1. To fast track their claim
  2. If the government has reasonable grounds to believe that the asylum seeker or migrant will abscond or not abide by the conditions of entry.
  3. If the asylum seeker or migrant is about to be deported.

Figures published for January - March 2008 by the Home Office [5] revealed the following:

  • 2305 people were detained in 'removal centres' in the UK under Immigration Act powers (this figure excludes those held in prisons)
  • 1980 immigration detainees were male
  • 35 children under 18 were detained
  • 1640 detainees had claimed asylum at some stage

Although it is lawful to detain immigrants at any stage of the process there are some particular categories of people who are exempt from being detained. These are unaccompanied children, people who have been tortured and have objective evidence to prove it, disabled people, those suffering from mental illness and pregnant women unless they can be removed quickly.

Once detained it is possible to apply for bail. It is necessary to provide a surety and conditions will be provided, usually reporting, if bail is granted. Although there is no legal aid for representation at bail hearings, the organisation Bail for Immigration Detainees provides help and assistance for those subject to detention to represent themselves. [6]

Since summer 2005 there has been an increase in the detention of foreign nationals since the Charles Clarke scandal which revealed that there were a number of foreign nationals who had committed crimes and had not been deported at the end of their sentence.

[edit] Refugee deaths (UK)

There have been a number of suicides and deaths in UK Detention Centres, including:

  • Bereket Yohannes 2006 at Harmondsworth Detention Centre
  • Manuel Bravo
  • Ramazan Kumluca
  • Kenny Peter
  • Tran Quang Tung
  • Sergey Barnuyck 2004 at Harmondsworth Detention Centre
  • Mikhail Bognarchuk
  • Robertas Grabys
  • Abiy Fessfha Abebe
  • Michael Bravo

see fuller article deaths in custody

[edit] United States

A CBP Border Patrol agent with a female Mexican illegal immigrant in a holding facility.
A CBP Border Patrol agent with a female Mexican illegal immigrant in a holding facility.

In the United States, a similar practice began in the early 1980s with Haitians and Cubans detained at Guantanamo Bay, and other groups such as Chinese in jails and detention centres on the mainland. The practice was made mandatory by legislation passed in 1996 in response to the Oklahoma City bombing, and has come under criticism from organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights First, all of whom have released major studies of the subject, and the ACLU [7] Currently it is estimated by the U.S. Government that 22,000 people are held at any given time, including children, in over 200 detention centres, jails, and prisons nationwide.

One of the most recent camps to open is the T. Don Hutto Residential Center, which opened in 2006 specifically to house non-criminal families. There are other significant facilities in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Oakdale, Louisiana, Florence, Arizona, Miami, Florida, Seattle, York, Pennsylvania, Batavia, New York, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico and all along the Texas-Mexico border.

[edit] Criticism

Criticism of immigration detention focuses on comparisons with prison conditions[8] in which persons are kept though they have never been convicted of a crime, the lack of judicial oversight, and on the lengthy bureaucratic delays that often prevent a person from being released, particularly when there is no evidence that the detainee will present a harm or a burden to society if allowed to remain at large while their situation is examined.

Recently, the conditions of detention centres have been criticised, by the United Kingdom Inspector of Prisons.[9]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] General

  • Dow, Mark, American Gulag. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004.
  • From Nothing to Zero: Letters from Refugees in Australia's Detention Centres. Melbourne: Lonely Planet, 2003.
  • Mares, Peter, Borderline. Sydney, University of New South Wales Press, 2001.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ wcl.american.edu
  2. ^ Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee visits Ukraine, accessed 28-08-07
  3. ^ corporatewatch.org.uk
  4. ^ S 62, Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002
  5. ^ Home Office Asylum Statistics, 1st Quarter 2008
  6. ^ biduk.org
  7. ^ aclu.org.
  8. ^ politics.co.uk
  9. ^ inspectorates.homeoffice.gov.uk
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