Immigration detention Totally Explained

Everything about Immigration Detention totally explained

Immigration detention is the policy of holding certain groups of unauthorised arrivals in detention until a decision is made by immigration authorities to grant a visa and release them into the community, or to repatriate them to their country of departure. Mandatory detention is the practice of compulsorily detaining or imprisoning people seeking political asylum, or who are considered to be illegal immigrants or unauthorised arrivals into a country.

Asia

Several Asian nations are known to imprison immigrants on visa violations or for alleged trafficking, including the victims of trafficking and smuggling. These include Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Australia

In Australia, immigration detention was revived in 1992 for all foreigners who arrive in Australia without a visa. That only 'border applicants' are subject to detention has sparked criticism, as it's claimed to unfairly discriminate against certain migrants. Other unlawful non-citizens, such as those that overstay their visas, are generally granted bridging visas while their applications are processed, and are therefore free to move around the community. The long-term detention of immigrant children has also sparked criticism of the practice by citizen's groups such as ChilOut and human rights organisations. Australia has also sub-contracted with other nations to detain would-be immigrants offshore, including Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Nauru. Australia also maintains an offshore detention camp on Christmas Island.

Ukraine

In the Ukraine "Temporary Detention Centres" are run by the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, responsible to the President.

Pavschino

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has ten detention centres which can be used to detain migrants or asylum seekers. Often the maintenance of these centres are undertaken by private companies contracted by the government. The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act (2002) formally changed the name of "detention centres" to "removal centres". The centres are:

Campsfield House in Oxfordshire which is run by GEO

Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre near Heathrow which is run by Serco

Dover Prison which is run by the Prison Service

Dungavel in Lanarkshire run by GSL, formerly part of Group 4 Securicor

Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre also near Heathrow which is run by United Kingdom Detention Services

Haslar Immigration Removal Centre which is run by the Prison Service

Lindholme Prison, near Doncaster which is run by the Prison Service

Tinsley House near Gatwick Airport which is run by GSL

Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre in Bedfordshire run by Serco

Oakington Immigration Reception Centre which is near Cambridge. Additionally, some prisons detain migrants or asylum seekers purely under Immigration Act powers, usually if they've been serving a prison sentence which has expired. There are also four short term holding facilities in Manchester, Dover, Harwich and Colnbrook.
The British government has been given powers to detain asylum seekers and migrants at any stage of the asylum process. The use of asylum has increased with the introduction of the process of 'fast track', or the procedure by which the Immigration Service assess asylum claims which are capable of being decided quickly. Fast-tracking takes place in Oakington Reception Centre, Harmondsworth and Yarl's Wood.
There are three situations in which it's lawful to detain an asylum seeker or migrant.

To fast track their claim

If the government has reasonable grounds to believe that the asylum seeker or migrant will abscond or not abide by the conditions of entry.

If the asylum seeker or migrant is about to be deported. Figures published for January - March 2008 by the Home Office revealed the following:

2305 people were detained in 'removal centres' in the UK under Immigration Act powers (this figure excludes those held in prisons)

1980 immigration detainees were male

35 children under 18 were detained

1640 detainees had claimed asylum at some stage Although it's lawful to detain immigrants at any stage of the process there are some particular categories of people who are exempt from being detained. These are unaccompanied children, people who have been tortured and have objective evidence to prove it, disabled people, those suffering from mental illness and pregnant women unless they can be removed quickly.
Once detained it's possible to apply for bail. It is necessary to provide a surety and conditions will be provided, usually reporting, if bail is granted. Although there's no legal aid for representation at bail hearings, the organisation Bail for Immigration Detainees provides help and assistance for those subject to detention to represent themselves.
Since summer 2005 there has been an increase in the detention of foreign nationals since the Charles Clarke scandal which revealed that there were a number of foreign nationals who had committed crimes and hadn't been deported at the end of their sentence.

Refugee deaths (UK)

There have been a number of suicides and deaths in UK Detention Centres, including:

Bereket Yohannes 2006 at Harmondsworth Detention Centre

Manuel Bravo

Ramazan Kumluca

Kenny Peter

Tran Quang Tung

Sergey Barnuyck 2004 at Harmondsworth Detention Centre

Mikhail Bognarchuk

Robertas Grabys

Abiy Fessfha Abebe

Michael Bravo see fuller article deaths in custody

United States

In the United States, a similar practice began in the early 1980s with Haitians and Cubans detained at Guantanamo Bay, and other groups such as Chinese in jails and detention centres on the mainland. The practice was made mandatory by legislation passed in 1996 in response to the Oklahoma City bombing, and has come under criticism from organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights First, all of whom have released major studies of the subject, and the ACLU Currently it's estimated by the U.S. Government that 22,000 people are held at any given time, including children, in over 200 detention centres, jails, and prisons nationwide.
One of the most recent camps to open is the T. Don Hutto Residential Center, which opened in 2006 specifically to house non-criminal families. There are other significant facilities in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Oakdale, Louisiana, Florence, Arizona, Miami, Florida, Seattle, York, Pennsylvania, Batavia, New York, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico and all along the Texas-Mexico border.

Criticism

Criticism of immigration detention focuses on comparisons with prison conditions in which persons are kept though they've never been convicted of a crime, the lack of judicial oversight, and on the lengthy bureaucratic delays that often prevent a person from being released, particularly when there's no evidence that the detainee will present a harm or a burden to society if allowed to remain at large while their situation is examined.
Recently, the conditions of detention centres have been criticised, by the United Kingdom Inspector of Prisons.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Immigration Detention'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://immigration_detention.totallyexplained.com">Immigration detention Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.