Home Office to End Use of Victorian Prison for Unconvicted Asylum Seekers

Home Office ministers are set to end the use of Pentonville Prison in London, which has been criticized for its poor conditions and inappropriate facilities for holding unconvicted asylum seekers. Instead, a wing of Rochester Prison in Kent is being considered for use as a detention centre, part of a wider expansion of detention places in Britain. The decision follows damning reports from the Chief Inspector of Prisons, Amnesty International, and penal reformers, who have long argued that prisons are not suitable for holding immigration detainees.

Key Takeaways:

• The Home Office will end the use of Pentonville Prison to detain unconvicted asylum seekers, a decision welcomed by penal reform and refugee groups.
• The prison has been criticized for its poor conditions, with the Chief Inspector of Prisons finding desperation and self-mutilation to be common among detainees.
• A wing of Rochester Prison in Kent will be reopened as a detention centre, part of a wider expansion of detention places in Britain.
• The Immigration Service will run the centre, which will have the capacity to hold around 100 immigration detainees.
• The number of asylum seekers being held indefinitely in police cells has been revealed to be 111, with the longest held case being over a year.
• The largest number of asylum seekers held in small groups is at Winson Green in Birmingham, with 29 detainees.
• Penal reformers and refugee groups are concerned that concentration of asylum seekers at Rochester will lead to unrest.
• The Home Office has admitted that 130 asylum seekers are being held at Campsfield House, 87 at Harmondsworth, and 82 at Haslar.

Statistics:

• 637 asylum seekers have been imprisoned for up to a year in detention centres and jails in Britain.
• 13 asylum seekers have been held for more than a year.
• 111 asylum seekers are held indefinitely in police cells.
• The largest number of asylum seekers held at a single location is 130 at Campsfield House.
• The majority of asylum seekers (85%) are held in small groups around the prison system.

Sources:

• Amnesty International
• Home Office
• Charter 87 for Refugees
• Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants