Government statistics released under Freedom of Information show that although some 6,300 individuals have been detained in the UK’s detention centres, only 364 of them have been examined by doctors and formally classed as “at risk”.
Last week the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) called for the Home Office to be stripped of immigration detention powers and for them to be given to independent judges instead. The chief executive of the “Freedom from Torture” charity, which protects high-risk individuals, stated that the figures “are a shocking indictment of the government’s high profile yet floundering agenda to make the immigration system more humane after the Windrush scandal.”
What is the “At Risk” Policy?
The Adults at Risk policy sets out to protect vulnerable adults from detention. It was devised in 2016. Between September 2017 and 2018, a total of 907 individuals were deemed as “vulnerable” by medical professionals under this policy, but only 502 were released.
The second Freedom of Information request showed that at any one time, more than 1,000 adults are in detention centres and on average, 720 are designated by medical professionals and social workers, to be at risk of harm.
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