Board calls for closure of family detention unit

Calls have been made to end the detention of children at an immigration removal centre near Gatwick Airport.

An Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) has recommended the closure of the family detention unit pre departure accommodation (Family PDA) at the site, which includes Brook House.

In a report, the IMB said it was concerned with "the fairness and humanity of detaining families with children" and there was a risk of adding to their trauma.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “It is vital that all stages of the removal process are conducted with dignity.”

Of the 48 families held there as part of the Home Office removals process since 2017, only six families have been removed, the IMB said.

It said it was concerned about children witnessing or overhearing their parents’ considerable distress at what is happening to them, despite staff efforts to shield them.

It also said that children sometimes interpret for their parents with staff, despite the availability of professional interpreters.

In one case in 2023, a mother and her three children were detained in the Family PDA for nearly a week after a failed removal, the IMB said.

By the time the family were to be removed, the mother had tested positive for pregnancy.

Before the removal was cancelled, she sat naked in a toilet cubicle for four hours and refused to engage with escorts, the board said.

Serco staff who were with her reported that she was very stressed and engaged less over time.

The board said it felt the Home Office decision-making process resulted in callous treatment and unnecessary suffering for the mother and the impact on her three young children unknown.

However, the IMB said physical conditions in the Family PDA were good and "it was spacious and much effort was made to make it appear welcoming and child friendly".

Neil Beer, chair of the IMB for the Family PDA, said: “There is a fundamental question of whether it is decent or humane to detain families with children.

“We have seen children taking on responsibilities beyond their years and the Board’s view is that no child should be put at risk by the kind of experience endured by those detained in the Family PDA in 2023.”

The Home Office spokesperson said: “We are fully committed to continuously improving our immigration detention facilities and providing a service which prioritises people’s safety and wellbeing."

It said it would "carefully consider" the findings of the report.

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