Little support for thousands of detained immigrants

So David Davis has won the Haltemprice and Howden by-election, by arguing for the protection of our civil liberties. He resigned after Parliament approved extending the detention time of terrorist suspects to 42 days. But what about the tens of thousands of immigrants detained each year in the UK, often for many months? Who is standing up for them?

Thankfully, Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID)—a current NPC recommendation—does just that. Celia Clarke, Chief Executive –of BID, comments:

“The increase to 42 days is likely to affect less than 50 people per year, whereas almost 30,000 immigrants are detained indefinitely in the UK every year, without easy access to legal help.”

The UK detains more asylum seekers and for longer periods of time than any other country in Europe. The decision to detain is made by an immigration officer. Not even a judge or jury is involved, whereas Parliament will likely be asked to approve long-term detention of suspected terrorists.

Immigration detainees are often unaware that they have a right to appeal their detention, and there is little legal aid available even if they do try to challenge the decision.

BID works to release detainees, to encourage accountability in the use of immigration detention and to help detainees understand their legal rights. It is one of the charities featured in NPC’s report Home truths, which examines the issues affecting refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

As the government is committed to increasing the use of detention—with a target to detain a third of all new arrivals—BID’s work will become even more important.

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