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A pregnant mother with three children – aged five, four and two – suffered “callous treatment” at the hands of immigration officials attempting to deport the family, a report has found.
The Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB) examined conditions at the family pre-departure accommodation near Gatwick airport, which is part of an immigration removal site.
Having found families with children had been subjected to unnecessary suffering at the unit, inspectors said it should be shut.
The detention facility had not been used for families since 2020 – but in 2023, families were kept at the airport facility four times. Inspectors said the experiences caused “evident suffering and distress for parents involved”.
The IMB has called for the accommodation, which is managed by Serco, to be closed down. They have also called for a commitment from government that the facilities are not used to detain families.
In the case of family A, a mother and her three young children were taken to the Gatwick removal centre late at night on 18 April 2023. Ministers agreed that the family could be held beyond the usual 72 hours to just before midnight on 25 April.
The mother told a GP that she had had thoughts of self-harm and believed that her children’s lives were in danger if they were removed from the UK.
Whilst in detention, the mother received a positive pregnancy test result on 24 April. However, the Home Office tried again to deport the family the next day. After the mother was served with removal directions, she sat naked in the toilet for some hours and refused to engage with the escorts. The report found she was very stressed and started to hunch over and rock to and fro.
The monitoring board found that the incident had resulted in “callous treatment and unnecessary suffering for the mother”. The family were not removed from the country as officials were not able to use force, due to the women’s pregnancy.
In the case of Family B, a couple who had two children – a 15-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl – were detained in November 2023. The boy had to interpret for officials. As the family were released into the community the next day, the monitoring board found “the stress and anxiety caused to the family by their detention seemed without purpose”.
The monitoring board also raised concerns about the impact of the detention on the mental health of the families, adding they had “particular concerns for the impact on the detained children”.
In family C’s case, a mother and her young son were detained at their home in Liverpool and taken to a flight at Heathrow airport, before then being moved to Gatwick.
The mother was reported to be a victim of domestic abuse and said she was not prepared to have her son exposed to gang culture if he was removed. The family were released after two days.
In the final case, another mother and her two children were detained at Gatwick after a failed attempt to remove them on a flight. They were released back into the community two days later.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “It is vital that all stages of the removal process are conducted with dignity.
“That is why we are fully committed to continuously improving our immigration detention facilities and providing a service which prioritises people’s safety and wellbeing.
“The Home Office will carefully consider the findings of this report.”
