‘Toxic’ Racism of Home Office’s Immigration Staff Contractor

London: A whistleblower has revealed racist messages traded on a WhatsApp group run by one of the private companies that runs detention centres and escorts migrants. The source told the Mirror on Sunday about the ‘toxic’ racism of messages in a 120-strong group of staff at the contractor Mitie called ‘escorts meet and greet’ which featured ‘jokes about Syrian refugees swimming to the UK’, ‘slanty-eyed’ Chinese people, a ‘lewd reference’ to Diane Abbott MP and a ‘xenophobic jibe’ at Home Secretary Priti Patel.

‘There is no care. It’s utterly toxic,’ the whistleblower said. ‘Casual racism amongst workers towards those they are supposed to look after is disgusting. Detainee custody officers (DCOs) are acting on behalf of the Home Office – but the reality of how many behave is a joke.’ According to the report, the Home Office has now ordered a probe and points out that Mitie, which has a £525million government contract, has suspended some staff. A subsequent report on the Guardian said that a whistleblower first raised concerns about racism on the WhatsApp group almost two years ago and Mitie told the the paper that the ‘was not escalated in line with internal procedures’ which was ‘not acceptable’. The paper had previously reported on the employment tribunal case of a Mitie escort of Pakistani heritage, Muqaddas Zaibhas, whose case revealed that stafff  used the racist term ‘cotton pickers’ to describe black colleagues.

Read more: John Robins, Justice Gap, https://rb.gy/cbi9lk