Former Immigration Detainees Can Seek Public Inquiry Over Abuse Claims

A high court judge has granted two former immigration detainees permission to seek an independent public inquiry into claims of systemic abuse in an immigration removal centre (IRC). Both men were featured in an undercover BBC Panorama broadcast filmed last September at Brook House IRC near Gatwick airport. The first detainee was filmed being throttled by a member of G4S staff. Despite the findings, the Home Office recently awarded G4S a new contract to run Brook House for a further two years.

The programme revealed a culture of chaos with officials mocking, abusing and assaulting detainees, prompting G4S to order an independent review. Ten staff were suspended and one has been interviewed under police caution. Brook House’s director, Ben Saunders, resigned soon after the programme was aired. The Home Office’s professional standards unit (PSU) conducted an internal inquiry into the abuse revealed by the undercover filming. Court documents in the proceedings on Tuesday reveal for the first time the Home Office’s findings that G4S’s treatment of the man who was throttled “degraded” him and amounted to “inhuman treatment”. The report found that there was collusion by G4S staff not to record the events.

Read more: Diane Taylor, Guardian, https://is.gd/uPznG5