Young children are being traumatized while being held at Gatwick Airport's deportation center, which should be closed, a watchdog group has found.
The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) also said the children's parents were being subjected to “callous treatment and unnecessary suffering” due to the Home Office's lengthy decision-making process on deportations.
The investigation follows an investigation into conditions inside the pre-departure accommodation of the Family Detention Unit, known as the Family PDA, at the UK's second busiest airport.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper plans to increase detention capacity in the UK as part of efforts to achieve the highest deportation rate since 2018.
After assessing the facilities and treatment of children at the Gatwick unit, which provides accommodation for two families facing deportation, the oversight panel found:
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Despite staff's efforts to protect them, the children have witnessed and heard their parents' “considerable distress” during their anticipated deportation.
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Children are asked by staff to translate for their distraught parents, even as they face removal from their homes and forced relocation to a country they barely know.
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Family PDA use can prolong or exacerbate already experienced trauma, especially for children.
In one particularly harrowing incident, a mother and her three children, ages 5, 4, and 2, were detained at Family PDA for nearly a week after a failed removal attempt. At the time of the second attempt to remove the family, the mother had tested positive for pregnancy, but staff still attempted to proceed with the deportation.
The mother, who argued that her children's lives would be in danger if deported, refused to be accompanied and sat naked in a bathroom stall for about four hours until the deportation was canceled.
“The board feels that the Home Office's decision-making process resulted in callous treatment and unnecessary suffering for the mother, with unknown consequences for her three young children,” the report said.
Family PDA forms part of the Gatwick Immigration Deportation Facility, which includes Brookhouse Deportation Center.
Last year's Brookhouse Inquiry Report, investigated undercover by BBC Panorama, detailed 19 serious incidents in which detainees at the center were abused by staff. Last month, inquiry chair Kate Eves said the government had agreed to just one of her 33 recommendations.
Neil Beer, Chair of the Family PDA Board of Directors, said: The board's view is that children should not be put at risk by experiences such as those endured by those detained. ”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “It is vital that every step of the removal process is carried out with dignity. That is why we continually improve our immigration detention facilities and ensure that services prioritize people's safety and wellbeing. The Home Office will carefully consider the findings of this report.”
In a separate development, prison inspectors found “catastrophic levels” of drugs, organized crime, high rates of violence and rat infestations at HMP Manchester, which required urgent improvements. discovered. The facility, commonly known as Strangeways, was found by the Inspectorate of Prisons to be the most violent adult male prison in England and Wales, with the highest rate of serious assaults.
In an urgent letter to Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor said the number of weapons and illegal items found was the highest of any adult men's prison, with 39% of inmates being tested. He said he had tested positive. Drug use within the past 12 months.
HMP Manchester, which houses Category A and B prisoners, was the scene of the longest prison riot in British history, lasting from 1 April 1990 to 25 April 1990.
Prisons Minister James Timpson said an action plan to deliver urgent improvements would be published in the coming weeks.
