The UK’s Brook House Inquiry released a report on Tuesday that details an investigation into mistreatment of people detained at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre. Kate Eves chaired the inquiry to investigate incidents that occurred at the centre between April 1, 2017 and August 21, 2017. The investigation was opened following a BBC documentary titled ‘Undercover Britain’s Immigration Secrets’ that secretly filmed an immigration centre in 2017 and exposed abuses of detainees by staff. The report explains some of the incidents in detail. One incident involved “applying pressure to a man’s neck when he was in great distress”, “dangerous techniques of restraint” as well as inappropriate and excessive force. According to the report, immigration detention is indefinite and has a negative impact on wellbeing because there is no limit for how long a person may be held. The inquiry also reveals that there is a “failure to follow the safeguarding rules and procedures to protect the vulnerable.”
In the report, Eves makes 33 recommendations which she says “need to be implemented to ensure that other detained people do not suffer in the same way as those at Brook House did.” She called for a limit on the amount time persons can be detained, recommending that people should only be detained for a maximum of 28 days. Eves also noted that practical measures must be taken to improve “oversight by the Home Office of contracts, people’s experience of detention, and their safety.” This was evident through the acts that were observed during the investigation. Eves concluded by recommending that the Home Office publish its response to her recommendations in six months.