Short-term detention centres
Short-term detention is used in the UK when further investigations are needed on individuals arriving in country, or, if an individual is refused entry, pending their removal. So-called Short-Term Holding Facilities (STHFs) typically consist of one or more secure rooms attached to ports, airports or Immigration Reporting Centres and hold those who have either been detained there or 'snatched' in so-called enforcement operations. Some are also held there temporarily while being transferred between detention centres across the country.
Short-term detention centres could be either residential, which means people can be held there for up to seven days, or non-residential, where people are normally held for a few hours before being transferred, released or deported, although it is quite common that detainees are held for up to 36 hours. Police stations are also classed as short-term residential holding facilities, which means that immigration detainees should not be held there for more than five days before their transfer or release, or seven days if removal is imminent.
For most detainees, STHFs would be their first, unexpected experience of detention. In the words of HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers (August 2005), "though they hold detainees only for short periods, they do so at a time of maximum anxiety and uncertainty, outside the public gaze." 'Airside centres' (at airports) are particularly unreachable as you would need a permission from the airport authorities to get in.
It was only in the summer of 2004 that an inspection programme for short-term holding centres began, the first time these facilities had been exposed to independent scrutiny. The first set of reports (http://inspectorates.homeoffice.gov.uk/hmiprisons/inspect_reports/STHF-reports/2004_STHFsx4.pdf) by the Chief Inspector of Prisons, which covered Communications House (London), Lunar House (Croydon), Electric House (Croydon) and Dallas Court (Manchester), found that "there is little external supervision or regular monitoring of these centres." Ever since, the "systemic deficiencies" common to most, if not all, STHFs have become all too familiar in their inspection reports (http://inspectorates.homeoffice.gov.uk/hmiprisons/inspect_reports/STHF-reports/): prolonged detention (due to over-crowdedness in 'normal' detention centres) despite the facilities' not being fit for staying overnight; use of force and segregation; lack of information and healthcare; inadequate facilities; untrained or inadequate staff (especially in dealing with children, self-harm and the like); women and children being kept in the same room as single men and so on and so forth. Even the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, in its 2006-7 report (http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt200607/jtselect/jtrights/81/81ii.pdf) on the treatment of asylum seekers, expressed its "concerns" about "key human rights issues that emerge from inspection reports."
At the time of writing this article, all but a few STHFs were run by Group 4 Securicor Ltd. (G4S), which took over from Global Solutions Ltd. (GSL) at the beginning of the financial year 2005.
The residential STHFs at present are:
1.Colnbrook STHF at Colnbrook IRC, Heathrow (London), run by Premier (Serco), capacity 40
2.Harwich International Port, Essex, run by Abbey Security Ltd, cap. 12
3.Manchester Airport, Manchester, run by G4S, cap. 16
4.Port of Dover, Dover, run by Dover Harbour Board, cap. 20
The non-residential STHFs, all run by G4S, are:
1.Becket House, south-east London
2.Birmingham International Airport, Birmingham
3.Communications House, London
4.Dallas Court, Manchester
5.Dover Asylum Screening Centre, Dover
6.Eaton House, Middlesex
7.Electric House, Croydon
8.Festival Court, Glasgow
9.Gatwick North Terminal, West Sussex
10.Gatwick South Terminal, West Sussex
11.Glasgow International Airport, Glasgow
12.Heathrow Airport Terminals 1, London
13.Heathrow Airport Terminals 2, London
14.Heathrow Airport Terminals 3, London
15.Heathrow Airport Terminals 4, London
16.John Lennon Airport, Liverpool
17.London City Airport, East London
18.Lunar House, Croydon
19.Luton Airport, Bedfordshire
20.Portsmouth Continental Ferry Port, Portsmouth
21.Queen's Building, Heathrow Airport, London
22.Reliance House, Liverpool
23.Sandford House, Solihull, West Midlands
24.Stansted Airport, Essex
25.Waterside Court, Leeds
More information/documents
Heathrow:
The Independent Monitoring Board at Heathrow has published its: 'Report of the Independent Monitoring Board on the short term holding facilities at Heathrow airport for the period April 2007/January 2008'.
The report criticises:
- lack of proper sleeping facilities
- lack of access to proper hygiene facilities
- poor quality of hot meals provided by G4S
- length of detention
and much more.
See here: http://www.imb.gov.uk/annual-reports/08-annual-reports/Heathrow_2007-2008.pdf?view=Binary