U.K. immigrant removal center’s shocking state show “contempt for human life”
A damning report just revealed the shocking conditions of an immigration removal center close to Heathrow Airport in the U.K. According to The Guardian, inspectors say it was the worst they had ever seen. Some of the immigrants detained in the center include sex trafficking and forced labor survivors.
Home Office incompetence coming at migrants’ expense
Harmondsworth is a 658-bed immigration removal center, the largest of its kind in Europe. In their 68-page report, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) said that overall conditions at Harmondsworth were the worst they had found anywhere.
Chief Inspector of prisons, Charlie Taylor said:
“The level of chaos that we found at Harmondsworth was truly shocking and we left deeply concerned that some of those held there were at imminent risk of harm,”
Taylor stated that immigrants should only be detained at the center if they are set to be removed quickly from the country. However, inspectors discovered that only a third of detainees were removed, with around 60% simply being released. Not to mention, the conditions they faced while there were “truly shocking”. Almost half of the detainees told inspectors they felt suicidal during their stay. Numerous suicide attempts were documented, with one suicide attempt happening during the HMIP inspection.