Introduction

When someone claiming asylum or seeking a visa to remain in the UK has their claim or request refused, is found to be present in the UK without leave to be here or is found to have broken conditions of their leave to be in the UK - the Home Office expects the person to leave the country promptly. If they fail to do so, they may be subject to enforcement action, including detention and removal.

The methods used by the UK government to ensure that it can enforce removals have come under considerable criticism. Organisations and groups in the migration sector continue to raise concerns about the mistreatment and abuse of individuals and families during the removal procedure. This has been to the extent that Jimmy Mubenga was killed during a removal flight in 2010, suffocated while being restrained (using an unlawful face forward restraint) by three G4S security guards working as overseas escorts for the Home Office.

In recent years, the Home Office has made it harder for lawyers to stop removals by giving people less notice of their removal. And, independent immigration judges now need the permission of the Secretary of State for the Home Department (SSHD) to release a person on bail close to the date of removal, even if those removal directions are later cancelled or the removal cannot take place.

This chapter sets out the different ways that people in detention (and sometimes their immediate family) who the Home Office are trying to get out of the UK, are induced to leave the UK on a voluntary basis or are forcibly removed from the country. Most people who are subject to enforced removal or deportation have been taken into detention for this purpose. Sometimes this is for only a few days before their flight, but in other cases people are subject to enforced removal or deportation from the UK only after a protracted legal fight and months or years in detention.

This chapter also includes key sources of information and advice in the event that you are concerned by the treatment of someone you meet in detention who is subject to removal or deportation.