(London) The chief inspector of British prisons denounced on Monday the “unacceptable” conditions of detention of migrants at Luton airport, near London, expressing particular concern for children placed “in waiting rooms overcrowded.”
The British Conservative government has made the fight against irregular immigration one of its priorities and has promised to deport more migrants.
Parliament passed a highly controversial law last week allowing migrants who arrived illegally in the United Kingdom to be deported to Rwanda.
Most UK airports have short-term detention centers where people who have just entered the UK on a plane or who have come from other centers are held before being deported.
A total of 17,445 migrants were placed in these centers between June and November 2023.
Nearly 3,000 people were sent to Luton Airport, north of London, over this period, making it the largest for England and Wales.
In his report released on Monday, the chief inspector of prisons, Charlie Taylor, wrote that “the most pressing challenge for the Home Office is to find a solution to the unacceptable conditions at Luton”.
This center, which he inspected in January, “was simply not able to cope with the demands placed on it,” he explains. “We were particularly concerned to find that children were placed in overcrowded waiting rooms with adults who were not related to them,” worries the inspector.
Migrants are detained “far too long” in facilities poorly equipped for long stays, he criticizes.
Mr Taylor notes that detention conditions vary from one center to another, taking the example of the new center in Manchester whose facilities “provide a well-designed and reasonably comfortable environment”.
He also notes that, while migrants should only stay a few hours in these centers, more than a quarter stayed there for more than 12 hours. Nearly 600 people, including six children, were held there for more than 24 hours.
In reaction to this report, the Ministry of the Interior said it was working “so that the duration of detention in the centers is as short as possible”.
“Those detained are held in safe and decent conditions and we have improved facilities and medical support in recent years,” he said.