United Kingdom: Asylum and immigration
01 January 1991
United Kingdom: Asylum and immigration
artdoc April=1995
Inhuman treatment of asylum seekers
Amnesty International has called for an independent inquiry into
allegations of `cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment' during
the forcible removal of refused asylum seekers from the UK.
Amnesty alleges that in the case of one deportee, two
unauthorised methods of restraint - an adhesive mouth gag and a
broad leather belt - were used (Guardian 15.7.94).
Elizabeth Blanchard, a Nigerian woman who alleges that she was
gagged and handcuffed while being removed from Campsfield
detention centre has been granted temporary permission to stay
in the UK (Guardian 9.7.94). More than 150 police officers
wearing riot gear were deployed to break up another demonstration
at Campsfield which started when eight Algerian asylum-seekers
protested at the treatment of another Algerian detainee. Twenty-
two prisoners have subsequently been transferred to other
prisons. Six detainees escaped during the protest .
Home Office figures shows that the number of asylum-seekers
detained or forcibly deported from the UK has soared in the past
18 months. At 31 May, there were 616 asylum applicants in
detention of whom 480 had been held for longer than a month
(Guardian 7.6.94).
IRR European Race Audit, Bulletin no 10, September 1994. Contact:
Liz Fekete, Institute of Race Relations, 2-6 Leeke Street, London
WC1X 9HS. Tel: 0171 837 0041