Criticisms on the use of Prison for Immigration Detention and Further Reading
HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP), the National Offender Management Service, and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), have all stated in successive years that prisons are not suitable for holding people for administrative immigration, other than for very short periods, or in exceptional circumstances where specific risk factors have been identified.
In HMIP’s most recent 2022 thematic review on the use of detention in prison, they found a failure to meet their previous recommendation that:
Immigration detainees should only be held in prison in very exceptional circumstances following risk assessment and with the authority of an immigration judge. (Recommendation for People in Prison: Immigration Detention, HMIP Findings Paper 2015).
In the most recent visit to the UK by The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) to examine the treatment and conditions of detention of persons held under immigration legislation (2023) they re-asserted:
At the outset, the CPT wishes to reiterate that, as a matter of principle, it considers that persons who have served their prison sentence should not continue to be held in prison under immigration legislation but should be transferred to an IRC. This is because immigration detention should not be punitive in character: it is not a sanction or a punishment. Therefore, persons in immigration detention should be afforded both a regime and material conditions appropriate to their legal situation.
Further reading on immigration detention in prisons
HMIP, (2015), People in prison: Immigration detainees. A findings paper by HM Inspectorate of Prisons. This paper draws together findings and survey results from inspection reports, and aims to set out the experiences of immigration detainees in prisons and compare it with the experiences of those in immigration removal centres (IRCs).
Free Movement Briefing (updated 2023), What is the law on deportation of foreign criminals and their human rights. Available at: https://freemovement.org.uk/what-is-the-law-on-the-deportation-of-non-eu-foreign-criminals-and-their-human-rights/#Part_5A_Nationality_Immigration_Asylum_Act_2002
“No Such Thing As Justice Here”: The Criminalisation of People Arriving to the UK via Small Boats published by the Centre for Criminology at the University of Oxford and Border Criminologies, shows how people have been imprisoned for their arrival on a ‘small boat’ since the Nationality and Borders Act (2022) came into force.
Bail for Immigration Detainees (2022): Catch 22 – Accessing Legal Advice from Prison. Research into access to justice in prisons based on the surveys of 27 people detained in prison. Available at: BID Research Reports | Bail for Immigration Detainees (biduk.org)
Bail for Immigration Detainees (2021): “Every day is like torture” Solitary Confinement and Immigration Detainees. Report from BID and Medical JusticeAvailable at: New research: "Every day is like torture": Solitary confinement & Immigration detention | Bail for Immigration Detainees (biduk.org)
Bail for Immigration Detainees, (2014), ‘Denial of justice: the hidden use of UK prisons for immigration detention.’ A research report presenting evidence to show the effect of detention in prison on detainees’ ability to progress their legal case and seek release on bail, gathered by BID’s prison outreach team, and legal & policy work. Available at:
Stephen Shaw, (2016), ‘Review into the Welfare in Detention of Vulnerable Persons: A report to the Home Office by Stephen Shaw’. Stephen Shaw visited HMP Holloway and HMP Wormwood Scrubs during the review. A number of insightful comparisons between the two estates, and the implications for people detained in prisons, are present throughout the report. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/490782/52532_Shaw_Review_Accessible.pdf
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There has also been important research into the ways in which race, racism, immigration control and criminalisation intersect with issues of citizenship, belonging and identity. The deportation of so called “foreign criminals” cannot be separated from these social structures and hierarchies. If you want to read more on this, some places to start are:
Juliet P. Stumpf coined the term “Crimmigration” to talk about the convergence of immigration and criminal law in her 2006 article: The Crimmigration Crisis: Immigrants, Crime, and Sovereign Power.
Deporting Black Britons by Luke De Noronha tells the stories of people who have been deported to Jamaica and in so doing explores the relationship between borders, racism, belonging and deservingness. If you are an AVID member or volunteer of an AVID member, login to watch the recording from a talk with Luke De Doronha with AVID on this topic.
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