On 30th April 2020, the APPG on Immigration Detention held its first ever online meeting to discuss the current situation in detention in light of COVID-19.
Despite the heightened public health risks found in detention settings, significant numbers of people – including those with COVID-19 comorbidities – continue to be held under immigration powers in Immigration Removal Centres and prisons across the UK.
Parliamentarians received an update on from Kris Harris, Policy and Research Manager at detention charity and APPG secretariat Medical Justice. Medical Justice work on a daily basis with people being held in detention.
The discussion focused on:
- heightened risks from Covid-19 in detention
- who is still being detained
- conditions faced by those who remain in detention
- reduced independent scrutiny and monitoring of detention due to the pandemic
- the Home Office’s response so far
- actions taken by detention-related NGOs
The group were also briefed on the new Brook House Inquiry. Following a number of legal challenges, the public inquiry has been set up to investigate the abuse of detainees revealed in the BBC’s 2017 Panorama programme “Under-Cover: Britain’s Immigration Secrets”.
A detailed note of Kris Harris’ presentation is available here.
Full minutes of the meeting are available here.
Following the meeting, the APPG tabled several written questions in Parliament and sent a joint letter to the Home Secretary Rt Hon. Priti Patel MP to raise various concerns.