“We have seen patterns repeat, warnings ignored, and risks re-emerge in different forms”
BY RAINBOW MIGRATION, IMAGE BY LEVI MEIR CLANCY VIA UNSPLASH
*Trigger warning: self-harm, suicide*
A new report released by the Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB) has once again exposed serious and persistent failings across the immigration detention system that continue year after year and are causing avoidable harm to people held in immigration detention.
Among other findings, the report found that detention exacerbated distress among vulnerable individuals, fuelling widespread self-harm and suicide attempts across the detention estate. It also highlights that access to healthcare is often being severely delayed and that people face barriers in obtaining legal advice.
At Rainbow Migration, we see this every day through the support we provide to LGBTQIA+ people held in detention.
We recently supported a gay man from the Middle East, who had made multiple attempts to take his own life and was told repeatedly he would get someone to see him “tomorrow”, but no one ever came. He was also bullied and disbelieved by staff who told him he was seeking attention rather than experiencing a genuine crisis. As a result, he didn’t receive the mental health care he desperately needed.
He also asked to see his duty solicitor several times. Although he was told this would be arranged, he never got to see one. We have since lost contact with him, raising concerns that he may have been sent back to danger without having had the chance to access legal advice.
The report also raises the use of force and isolation being increasingly applied as a matter of routine. We have worked with LGBTQIA+ people who, after attempting to take their own life in detention, were placed in isolation at a separate ward and monitored 24/7 by an officer in the room. Not only did this fail to support their mental health, but it made them feel even more isolated and confined.
As Rainbow Migration’s Senior Casework and Service Coordinator says, “that seems to be a common response; instead of releasing people into the community or providing them with mental health care, they are put in isolation and watched 24 hours a day by staff.”
Another gay man, who was visibly queer, was hospitalised following a homophobic attack at the hands of other people in detention, which was not prevented by detention staff. Afterwards, he was returned to the detention centre and, instead of the people who attacked him being held accountable, he was the one placed in isolation.
It is clear that detention is not safe for anyone, but LGBTQIA+ people are at particular risk of homophobic abuse and violence. As the interim IMB chair, Jane Leech states, “We have seen patterns repeat, warnings ignored, and risks re-emerge in different forms. The evidence available to us strongly suggests that many of these longstanding issues are not only unresolved but are becoming more acute.”
The government recently reviewed the Adults at Risk in Immigration Detention (AAR) policy, which identifies groups at risk of harm in detention. It could have extended the same level of protection to LGB people as is already given to trans and intersex people under the policy. Sadly, Ministers refused to do that, leaving LGB without these protections whilst it keeps detaining more and more people every year.
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