UK: New Amnesty report calls on government to reveal annual asylum detention figures

international | racism & migration related issues | other press Tuesday June 21, 2005 16:51 by redjade

WWMMD = What Would Michael McDowell Do?

UK: New Amnesty report calls on government to reveal annual asylum detention figures

In a new report, Amnesty International challenged the Government to reveal how many people who have sought asylum are detained each year and for how long.

The organisation suspects that over 25,000 people who have sought asylum in the UK, including women and children, were detained solely under Immigration Act powers in 2004. At present no annual figure is provided by the Government.

Amnesty International's report shows that detention is in many cases protracted, inappropriate, disproportionate and unlawful, and the organisation called on the Government to justify the lawfulness of detention in each and every case.

The organisation called for alternative non-custodial measures, such as reporting requirements, always to be considered before resorting to detention, and for a statutory presumption against detention for those who have sought asylum.

The 94-page report UK: Seeking asylum is not a crime: Detention of people who have sought asylum also calls for an automatic review of the lawfulness of the decision to detain someone, by a court or similar independent body.

Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen said:

"Seeking asylum is not a crime, it is a right. Thousands of people who have done nothing wrong are being locked up in the UK. We found that in many cases there was no apparent reason to detain people.

"The human cost of this policy is frighteningly high. We found that languishing in detention with no end in sight had led to mental illness, self-harm and even to people trying to take their own life.

"The lawfulness of the decision to detain someone should be reviewed automatically by a court or similar independent body. People who have sought asylum are being denied justice in the UK."