Captive labour: asylum seekers, migrants and employment in UK immigration removal centres

Abstract

The steady growth in the use of immigration detention under the UK's New Labour government has been, it is argued here, mirrored by the concurrent development of a new form of labour market within immigration removal centres (IRCs). This market has grown out of the long history of what some label as exploitative employment practices used amongst the wider prison population. It relies upon a subtle form of coercion which ensures compliance and discipline and, in so doing, provides a cheap and easily exploitable pool of labour for private sector companies. The research for this article draws on findings from prison inspection reports and the annual reports of independent monitoring boards.