If ‘detention’ is a form of punishment, perhaps it’s no surprise that high fences, razor wire, surveillance cameras and guards surround Britain’s largest immigration detention centre, Yarl’s Wood. The people locked up here haven’t been charged with any criminal offence though. They have no idea when they will be let out, or what will happen when they are.
Most of the 350 people currently detained in Yarl’s Wood are female and single, many of whom have sought refuge in the UK after traumatic experiences such as rape and torture. What they find is far from a sanctuary. Arriving in Britain as asylum seekers or migrants hoping for a better life, they are forced into detention while they wait to have their immigration status resolved.
Frequently followed by scandal, Yarl’s Wood has been plagued by controversy for its treatment of the vulnerable women confined within its walls since it opened in 2001. This year, an undercover documentary on life inside the centre revealed incidences of bullying and sexual abuse by staff and reports of suicide and self-harm amongst the detainees. And last week, after an unannounced inspection, the UK’s Chief Inspector of Prisons declared the notorious centre a ‘place of national concern.’
One of the most frightening findings of the report was the length of time some individuals are forced to spend in detention. Currently, there is no limit to the amount of time a person can be detained - it all depends on how long their case takes to be processed. The report found that some detainees were held between 6 months and a year, whilst others had been confined there for 17 months and counting. The impact of this level of uncertainty is severely damaging to those interned.
“Yarl’s Wood is a place of abject misery for the hundred's of women it contains,” says Ousman Noor, a UK-based barrister and founder of the Habeas Corpus Project, a non-profit organisation that represents individuals in detention in the UK. “Most of our clients are very depressed, some self harm, some have attempted suicide. Without a release date, many inmates lose hope and their mental health suffers. Yarl’s Wood is a place of national concern because it is the opposite of what this country stands for.”
The UK is not the only country with a poor record on immigration detention. All asylum seekers that reach Australia by boat are automatically sent to offshore facilities on the Pacific Island of Nauru or Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. Nicknamed ‘the Guantanamo of the Pacific,’ the UN has accused Australia of violating the International Convention Against Torture for its treatment of asylum seekers, including children, on Manus Island. Just this week, a former guard leaked rumours of the use of waterboarding at the centre, although Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott denies these claims. What is known is that the Australian government recently passed secrecy laws making it illegal for medical professionals or other staff in detention centres to disclose what they see happening inside - a deliberate attempt to keep the reality of life in detention out of the public eye.
Tough immigration policies are designed as a deterrent to future migrants. But a desire to control a country’s borders does not legitimise the use of punitive and harmful measures. Seeking asylum is not a crime. Many of those seeking refuge are fleeing war-torn nations or escaping persecution for their ethnicity or religious or political beliefs. The majority of those held in Australia’s detention centres come from Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Iran or Myanmar, regions plagued with instability and internal conflict.
While it is no single country’s duty to solve these complex issues, the international community is responsible for upholding human rights and human dignity. The current system in Britain, Australia and other rich countries is not only cruel and inhumane, but undermines the values democratic societies claim to stand for. Any system created to respond to an influx of vulnerable people must be based on compassion and humanity.
It’s a tragedy that people seeking to escape extreme hardship find themselves locked up in a system that seems indifferent to their existence. Those detained in centres like Yarl’s Wood or Manus Island are hidden beyond the fringes of society, denied a voice and any control over their lives. While it may take a long time to overhaul a nation’s immigration policy, organisations like the Habeas Corpus Project, Women for Refugee Women and Medical Justice provide a vital service by making sure that the vulnerable people held in detention are not forgotten or ignored.