UK Home Office criticised for 'inexcusable' delays in processing cases of migrants in jail

A review found many migrants were in prison for 'long periods' without their cases progressing

Migrants are taken to Dover, England, onboard a Border Force vessel after being found in the English Channel on Sunday. PA

The Home Office has been criticised by a watchdog for being too slow in processing the cases of migrants being held behind bars.

The “prolonged detention” of foreign detainees in jail under immigration powers because of the department’s “inefficiencies” is “inexcusable”, said chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor.

A review of conditions for immigration detainees found many were in prison for “long periods with little or no progress in their cases being made by the Home Office”.

One woman told inspectors she had been waiting six weeks to be removed from the country after agreeing to return home and offering to pay for her own flights.

She said she had received no clear update on when she should expect to travel.

In other cases, the Home Office’s independent case progression panel had recommended some detainees be released but they remained behind bars in prisons already under “enormous strain”, the findings showed.

If there is no prospect of removal within a reasonable period, detention “ceases to be lawful”, the watchdog’s report said.

But there was “little prospect of removal within a reasonable period for many detainees”.

Inspectors described the case of a person who had been detained for close to three years as “unacceptable”.

Migrant crossings on the English Channel surge amid heatwave - in pictures

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  The number of migrants crossing the English Channel from northern Europe has reached record-breaking figures as people in Britain are experiencing an exceptionally hot summer. PA

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  A lady carries a toddler to a bus after a group of people thought to be migrants were brought in to Dover, Kent, on the south-east English coast. PA

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  A group of migrants are brought in to Ramsgate, Kent, on August 1 - the day on which almost 700 migrants crossed the Channel to the UK in a single day, a record for the year so far. PA

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  It was only the second time in 2022 that the daily figure has topped 600. PA

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  A woman carries a newborn baby in a life cradle as she is brought in to Dover on a Border Force vessel in July. PA

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  About 3,683 migrants made the crossing on 90 boats in July, the highest monthly total this year. PA

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  A warehouse in Dover for boats used by people trying to cross the Channel. PA

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  Migrants hold up an inflatable boat before attempting to cross the Channel to Britain, near the northern French city of Gravelines, in July. AFP

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  A police officer stands guard on the beach at Dungeness, England, as migrants get off a lifeboat after they were picked up at sea in June. AFP

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  A group of people thought to be migrants walk up the beach after being brought in to Dungeness in May. AP

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  Migrants on the beach at Dungeness, after crossing the English Channel in an inflatable dinghy in January. Reuters

“The prolonged detention of people under immigration powers, especially when it is because of inefficiencies in Home Office case-working procedures, is inexcusable given that so many prisons are already overcrowded,” Mr Taylor said.

Inspectors visited eight prisons and interviewed 45 immigration detainees and 33 staff in March and April.

"The progression of detainees’ immigration cases was not adequate in too many of the cases we reviewed, which meant that people were subject to avoidable periods of often lengthy immigration detention," their report said.

“This, combined with a lack of meaningful information from the Home Office regarding their case progression had led to frustration and feelings of helplessness in detainees, who told us they were often confused about what was happening.

“Slow case progression within the immigration system in general, and the restrictions on face-to-face contact during the pandemic, had compounded this problem.”

Nearly 700 migrants cross English Channel beating 2022 record - in pictures

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  A group of migrants are brought in to Ramsgate, Kent, on August 1 - the day on which almost 700 migrants crossed the Channel to the UK in a single day, a record for the year so far. PA

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  It is only the second time in 2022 that the daily figure has topped 600. PA

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  The latest crossings saw large groups of people, including young children, brought ashore in Ramsgate before leaving the Kent port on double-decker buses. PA

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  A woman carries a newborn baby in a life cradle as she is brought in to Dover, Kent, on a Border Force vessel in July. PA

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  About 3,683 migrants made the crossing on 90 boats in July, the highest monthly total this year. PA

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  A warehouse facility in Dover, Kent, for boats used by people trying to cross the Channel. More than 17,000 people have arrived in the UK from France in small boats such as dinghies so far in 2022. PA

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  Migrants hold up an inflatable boat before attempting to cross the Channel to Britain, near the northern French city of Gravelines, in July. AFP

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  A police officer stands guard on the beach at Dungeness, England, as migrants get off a lifeboat after they were picked up at sea in June. AFP

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  A group of people thought to be migrants walk up the beach after being brought in to Dungeness in May. AP

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  Migrants on the beach at Dungeness, after crossing the English Channel in an inflatable dinghy in January. Reuters

Detainees struggled to obtain legal advice, with very few told they were allowed a free half-hour session with a lawyer.

Many prison and Home Office staff did not know of this entitlement, inspectors said.

Immigration papers were often served in English with no formal interpretation service to update prisoners on their cases, meaning inmates had to ask others to translate for them.

“Most worryingly”, vulnerable detainees, including victims of torture, were not routinely identified, the watchdog also found.

More than 200 migrants cross English Channel after pause in journeys - video

“Some of these people are extremely vulnerable," Mr Taylor said. "If these vulnerabilities are not monitored and addressed effectively, there is an increased risk that they will come to harm while in custody and that the integrity of the decision-making in their immigration cases will be undermined."

The Home Office has been contacted for comment.