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Abstract
Convincing international evidence demonstrates that immigration detention adversely affects mental health. During the COVID-19 outbreak, additional concerns were raised about the safety and appropriateness of immigration detention. Consequently, several hundred migrants were released en masse from UK immigration detention centres, and few new detentions took place. Over 70% fewer migrants were held in detention centres in June 2020 compared with December 2019. This large 'natural experiment' has demonstrated that detaining fewer migrants is possible and it provides an opportunity to review the necessity for large-scale detention for the purpose of immigration control, as well as its impact on health inequalities. Additionally, given that detainee release arrangements had already been considered unsafe prior to the pandemic, clinicians and service providers should take into consideration that many of those released may not be receiving adequate post-release continuity of care.
Highlights
The UK detains three times more people in immigration detention centres than any other European country, and this number has risen sharply over the past decade.[1]
We urge the Home Office to make full use of this natural experiment to inform decisions about the future of detention within the fairer asylum system that they have stated they are committed to developing. They should use the natural experiment to review critically whether detention has been fulfilling its intended objectives sufficiently to justify its ongoing use despite its known health, moral and financial costs, and the necessity of continuing to detain people in immigration detention centres
The health impact of immigration detention is of interest to the wider medical community who advocate for their patients: national bodies, including the British Medical Association (BMA) and medical Royal Colleges, have been campaigning against its use owing to adverse consequences for detainees’ health
Summary
The UK detains three times more people in immigration detention centres than any other European country, and this number has risen sharply over the past decade.[1]. Keywords Asylum seeker; refugee; immigration removal centre; detention; forensic mental health services.
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