British prison ombudsman shocked by the conditions in foreigners’ boarding schools

In a new report, conditions are described as chaotic and characterized by extensive violence and drug use.

There have also been several serious suicide attempts among the approximately 700 men confined in the dilapidated building. The report was published on Tuesday and is cited by, among others BBC.

Several incidents of violence

The number of violent incidents has doubled since the last inspection, according to the report. The inspectors might smell cannabis, and they saw some inmates smoking in common areas without being spoken to by staff, who were mostly in offices with “no entry” signs.

– The chaos we saw at Harmondsworth was absolutely shocking, and we left the scene very concerned that some of those held there are in immediate danger of being harmed, says Chief Inspector Charles Taylor.

The building will initially be used to lock up people who are to be deported following having their asylum application rejected.

The authorities receive criticism

Taylor emphasizes that no one should be locked up in such centers without being sent out of the country within a short period of time.

Nevertheless, it has been shown that around 60 percent of the prisoners are eventually released, and that only a third are deported. According to Taylor, it raises questions regarding why so much of taxpayers’ money goes to locking them up in the first place.

Taylor says he raised the matter with the previous government’s home secretary, James Cleverly, but got no response.