Background Information - Student Action for Refugees

Action Week
18-24 February 2013
1. Background Information
Asylum Detention in the UK
What? Detention refers to the government practice of detaining asylum seekers for
administrative purposes typically to resolve their claims, facilitate their removals or establish their
identities. In 2010, 12,878 asylum seekers entered detention.
Where? The majority of detainees in the UK are held in either immigration removal centres
(IRCs) or short term holding facilities, which are in or near airports. In 2012, the UK had 10 IRCs
and 17 short term holding facilities.
When? Asylum seekers may be detained at any point in the asylum process, whilst a decision
regarding their appeal for asylum is pending or after their application has been refused.
Why? There's no good reason! People who are waiting for their asylum claim to be processed
are usually allowed to enter the UK and live in the community. Some people are selected for the
Detained Fast Track because the UKBA thinks they will be able to process them more quickly that
way. They are just very, very unlucky.
Detained Fast Track
What is it?
Detained Fast Track (DFT), introduced in 2003, is part of the UK asylum system where asylum
seekers are held in detention for the duration of their application when the UKBA (UK Border
Agency, part of the Home Office) think that an individual’s case is a simple one and can be
decided quickly.
How do they decide?
By using information the UKBA collects at a screening
interview at the start of the asylum process. However, the
only information collected as this point is very basic, such as
their country of origin and does not go into the details of their
asylum claim. Screening interviews tend to be very short and
held in non-confidential environments, making it very difficult
for individuals to disclose sensitive information.
When I first came it was not really
good. I had never been in this
situation, I had never been locked
up, it was like a prison it is a
prison. I said to my cellmate, “this
is a prison, not detention”. I was
very depressed thinking “why am
I here in a prison?”
John, from Gambia
The IRCs where those in the Detained Fast Track are held
are prison-like facilities. More and more people are being fast
tracked and over 2,000 asylum seekers are currently held in this way every year. In 2008, the
government announced a target of fast tracking 30% of asylum seekers.
Detention is Wrong

Action Week
18-24 February 2013
In Britain we have a long, proud history of protecting people fleeing persecution and preventing the
detention of those who have done nothing wrong. The detention of asylum seekers goes against
both of these traditions.
It is wrong to lock up people who are fleeing persecution as soon as they arrive in the UK. The UK
has signed the UN Convention on Refugees and therefore it's perfectly legal to claim asylum.
It Doesn’t Work
The asylum process is supposed to examine the facts
put by the person asking for protection and grant
refugee status to those who need it.
DFT is ineffective at finding out the true facts of an
asylum case and punishes rather than protects those
who need it.
Stressful. It is really bad. There’s
nothing I can do. I don’t even have a
solicitor, and it is hard work to do
everything myself. I am tired being here,
I miss my kids so much. I cannot take it
no more. Maybe that’s their plan, so
that we can all give up on our life. This
is torture now.
-Mallan, from Malawi
There is good evidence that a successful asylum
system allows asylum seekers to live in the community,
receive good legal advice and engage with the people
making a decision on their claim. This was trialled in 2008 under a programme called the Solihull
Pilot and found that:
Cases were concluded almost twice as quickly as those elsewhere.
Better, more sustainable decisions meant that the number of allowed appeals was halved.
“Considerable potential savings” were identified. The lower rate of allowed appeals meant that
the rise in the Legal Aid budget could be offset by significant savings in UKBA support, Legal
Service Commission funds and Tribunal costs.
The number of people absconding reduced significantly.
The rate of grants of refugee status almost doubled.
The number of removals (as a proportion of refusals) increased.
In Australia asylum seekers who in the past would have been detained are now living in the
community and provided with case management support. For people who are refused asylum, the
number agreeing to leave voluntarily has increased dramatically.
It Harms Vulnerable People
The screening process to decide who is put into Detained Fast Track is very short, public and
ineffective and leads to vulnerable people being locked up.

Action Week
18-24 February 2013
The Home Office states that children, heavily pregnant
women, victims of torture and trafficking and people with
severe mental or physical disabilities should not be put into
Detained Fast Track. However, a recent government report
found that of 114 cases originally thought suitable for Fast
Track, 30% had to be released. For example, a Zimbabwean
politician, who arrived in the UK with obvious and unhealed
torture wounds on his head, was put into DFT.
I didn’t understand fast track
before, and I still don’t
understand it now. It is a way for
them to save money and send
people home, because there is
no truth on fast track. My solicitor
asked immigration to remove me
from fast track as my case is not
suitable for it.
-Mallan, from Malawi
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has
said that the UK’s inadequate screening processes means
that rape victims and torture survivors can find themselves being led off to a detention centre,
sometimes in handcuffs, as soon as they arrived in Britain to claim asylum, which he described as
“inhumane”.
The UN is Against Detention of Asylum-Seekers
The UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) has called for the UK to use
alternatives to detention:
UNHCR’s Alice Edwards launched UNHCR’s Guidelines on the Detention of Asylum Seekers with
the following words from the Agency:
Seeking asylum is not a criminal act.
Indefinite and arbitrary forms of detention are prohibited under international law.
UNHCR is disappointed that many countries continue to hold asylum-seekers in detention,
sometimes for long periods of time and in poor conditions, including in some cases in prisons
together with common criminals.
UNHCR calls on Governments to pay special attention to vulnerable asylum-seekers, such as
victims of torture and trauma, older people or people with disabilities, and children.
UNHCR research has indicated that irregular migration is not deterred even by stringent
detention practices and that more than 90% of asylum-seekers comply with their conditions of
release when freed from detention.
http://www.unhcr.org/505c461f9.html
"Guidelines on the Applicable Criteria and Standards relating to the Detention of Asylum-Seekers
and Alternatives to Detention" UNHCR 2012.
STAR Says: Detention is wrong. Detained Fast Track should end!

Action Week
18-24 February 2013
Find out more online:
Go to the STAR website www.star-network.org.uk
Go to the Detention Action website www.detentionaction.org.uk
Go to the UNHCR website http://www.unhcr.org/505b10ee9.html
Watch the film by our very own STAR founder Andy Davies!
http://www.channel4.com/news/government-breaching-rules-on-torture-victims