Harmondsworth Immigration Detainee Died In Handcuffs A Canadian immigration detainee, aged 84, who was suffering from dementia and declared unfit for detention, died in handcuffs, the BBC reports. HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) reported on the death of the migrant after visiting Harmondsworth immigration removal centre, near Heathrow airport. HMIP inspectors described the cases as shocking”, and said there was a “lost sense of humanity” at the immigration centre – effectively a holding or centre run on prison lines by private contractors for the Home Office. Prisons, public security and deportation or removal services have in recent years increasingly been outsourced to private companies, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Visa overstayers have died whilst being forcibly bundled onto deportation charter flights. The Chief Inspector of Prisons said some services were poorly managed. The Prison Reform Trust said the centre had forgotten the basic principles of humanity and decency. HMIP inspectors carried out an unannounced visit to the centre last August. The 84-year-old migrant due for deportation was taken to hospital in handcuffs, which were kept on him for 5 hours. He died while still in restraints, inspectors found. Doctors said the Canadian man was unfit for detention or deportation after diagnosing him with Alzheimers disease, but he was not released and no referral was made to social services. Medical notes described him as frail, 84 years old, has Alzheimers disease, demented. Unfit for detention or deportation. Requires social care. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman is preparing to investigate his death and inquest proceedings are being conducted by West London Coroners Court. This is not the first incident of this kind. The report outlined other examples, such as a stroke victim in a wheelchair, who was handcuffed on a journey to hospital for no obvious reason and a dying man who remained handcuffed while sedated and undergoing an angioplasty procedure in hospital. Women giving birth have also suffered the indignity of being handcuffed to the operating bed. Ministers have pledged to scrutinise more closely the performance of the private contractor GEO Group UK Ltd, which runs Harmondsworth and also operates Dungavel House immigration removal centre in South Lanarkshire. Immigration removal centres are used for temporary detention, in situations where visa overstayers who have no legal right to be in the UK but have refused to leave voluntarily. But some detainees have been held at the centre for more than a year, and one overstayer was held for more than two years (at enormous expence to the British taxpayer) despite being willing to return to his own country! Juliet Lyon, from the Prison Reform Trust, said: Have the authorities responsible for Harmondsworth forgotten the basic principles of humanity and decency that must apply to any form of custody? Chief Inspector of Prisons Nick Hardwick said: These were truly shocking cases, and they werent isolated, and they reflected a culture where too often the individual human needs of the people who were being held were simply being forgotten. And in the worst case, this frail, elderly Canadian gentleman with dementia died in the most undignified and disgraceful circumstances possible, really. He added there was a feeling Harmondsworth was in a state of drift with concerns about its future management, as the current contract was under review. The centre did not seem to be progressing and some services were being poorly managed, he said. Most importantly, there needed to be a refocusing on individual needs of the most vulnerable people in detention, some of whom had been utterly failed by the system. The report said on at least two occasions, inspectors discovered elderly and vulnerable detainees were needlessly handcuffed in an excessive and unacceptable manner. UK Immigration Minister Mark Harper said the use of restraint in the case of the dementia sufferer seemed completely unjustified and must not be repeated. Clearly, performance by the contractor running Harmondsworth has been below the high standard expected, Mr Harper said. This report makes a number of recommendations that we will be taking forward and I expect to see significant improvement. In a statement Harmondsworth contractor GEO said: Detainees are not routinely handcuffed when taken out of the centre. However, where there is a documented risk of absconding, handcuffs may be used, balanced against a number of factors, including their age. Managers have to use discretion to take difficult decisions and we have issued them with additional guidance. The contractor added that GEO Group UK Ltd had an excellent track record of providing services as evidenced in other recent reports by the HMIP. Source: BBC. Cynthia Barker, Immigration Adviser at Concept Care Solutions said: “If you an overstayer who has been arrested and detained, pending removal or deportation, remember that you still have a right to receive proper legal advice and should be allowed to contact your immigration lawyer. “Your immigration adviser can visit you whilst in detention and review your case, which may lead to advice to lodge an appeal against removal, apply for bail or submit an ‘outside the rules’ application to the Home Office.” If you have any immigration questions, have been arrested, detained, need advice on immigration appeals, or would like further information on UK jobs and UK study programmes contact Cynthia Barker at Concept Care Solutions on 0208 731 5972 or email infor@londonccs londonccs
Posted on: Fri, 17 Jan 2014 16:25:20 +0000
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