Support Our Work Mailing list About / Contact
  • Home /
  • Statewatch Database /
  • ‘A Prison in Mind’: the mental health implications of detention in Brook House Immigration Removal Centre, Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group, November 2012, pp. 24.

‘A Prison in Mind’: the mental health implications of detention in Brook House Immigration Removal Centre, Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group, November 2012, pp. 24.

01 March 2013

Support our work: become a Friend of Statewatch from as little as £1/€1 per month.

The Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group (GDWG) conducted a study on the mental health of detainees in Brook House Immigration Removal Centre, one of two Immigration Removal Centres – the other being Tinsley House - where the charity provides support to migrants in detention. The organisation wanted to investigate its “concerns...that detainees’ mental health was adversely affected by their prolonged detention.” Based on interviews with nine long-term detainees (whose average length of detention was 15 months) and 11 visitors, the report provides a useful insight into the ill-being of detainees, identified through physical and psychological symptoms. Interviewees, some of who suffered from mental illness prior to detention, confirmed that detention had affected them negatively and that access to healthcare was unsatisfactory. However, many considered that improving detention conditions would not help improve their situation and some blamed the immigration system itself, arguing that their detention was at the root of detainees’ distress. The report provides a set of recommendations. By stressing the importance of in-depth research on how detention affects the mental health of detainees, GDWG has provided a “timely reminder that the way we treat the most vulnerable among us is a measure of our own humanity,” according to the Royal College Medical Lead on Asylum Mental health Cornelius Katona MD FRCPsych.

Link to report:

Our work is only possible with your support.
Become a Friend of Statewatch from as little as £1/€1 per month.

 Previous article

Immigration and asylum Turned Away: Summary Returns of Unaccompanied Migrant Children and Adult Asylum Seekers from Italy to Greece, Human Rights Watch, January 2013, pp. 51, (ISBN: 1-56432-976-3).

Next article 

Report of the Parliamentary Inquiry into Asylum Support for Children and Young People. Children’s Society, January 2013, pp. 40.

 

Spotted an error? If you've spotted a problem with this page, just click once to let us know.

Report error

Statewatch does not have a corporate view, nor does it seek to create one, the views expressed are those of the author. Statewatch is not responsible for the content of external websites and inclusion of a link does not constitute an endorsement. Registered UK charity number: 1154784. Registered UK company number: 08480724. Registered company name: The Libertarian Research & Education Trust. Registered office: MayDay Rooms, 88 Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1DH. © Statewatch ISSN 1756-851X. Personal usage as private individuals "fair dealing" is allowed. We also welcome links to material on our site. Usage by those working for organisations is allowed only if the organisation holds an appropriate licence from the relevant reprographic rights organisation (eg: Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK) with such usage being subject to the terms and conditions of that licence and to local copyright law.

About | Contact | Privacy Policy