Home Office contractors are over-using restraint in immigration detention centres and failing to tackle the toxic culture behind bars, according to the findings of a new watchdog report described as “deeply concerning”.
Oh, boo hoo!
It highlighted how routine handcuffing, particularly during hospital transfers, appeared to have become the default rather than the exception. In one case, a frail 70-year-old man was handcuffed despite paperwork noting no evidence of risk.
What about the risk of escape?
The IMB national chair, Elisabeth Davies, said: “It’s about operational force being used for operational convenience.” She added that she has written to the Home Office “numerous times” raising concerns about the high levels of handcuffing and the lack of clear justification provided.
Frankly, operational convenience should always win out over the feelings of these bleeding hearts.
The report provided examples of restraint IMB is concerned about, including a man who was on constant suicide watch who was screaming and resisting removal. He took off his trousers and was carried naked from the waist down to a plane. Staff took turns to push his head against his seat. The report found the impact on his dignity to be “profound”.
What about the impact on the rest of the passengers? Or don't they count?
It also reprinted a note on a detention centre staff whiteboard saying: “Thought of the Day: Handle Stressful situations like a dog. If you can’t eat it or hump it, piss on it or walk away.” Davies said the sign was not hidden in any way. She has called for changes in staff culture and said the sign was an example of staff culture: “I think that offers little reassurance.”
There are worse motivational signs and at least this one wasn't purchased in a job lot by an office dresser..
Another example of a concerning staff culture highlighted by the report involved an incident where a personal protection trainer told officers: “If someone’s coming at me, I’m going to keep myself safe. I don’t worry about what’s proportionate, I won’t worry about Serco or my job, my priority is to look after myself.”
Who could possibly argue that this was the wrong attitude? Well, except the bleeding-heart female manager of this wretched organisation, of course.
Missed opportunities for de-escalation are also identified in the report, including a case where a man was restrained after failing to obey an instruction to stand up. The report finds no evidence of a trauma-informed approach, despite many detained people having experienced trauma, including torture and trafficking, with nothing to indicate that this was being considered when planning or executing force interventions.
If an order is given and someone fails to obey it, what should they do, Lizzy? Just wait until he feels like doing it? Why is this wet blanket in her position, anywway? Were there no male ex-prison governors available for the job?
“We need meaningful cultural change and robust accountability to protect the rights of highly vulnerable people in detention. As national chair, I call on the Home Office to act urgently to strengthen oversight, embed trauma-informed practices, and ensure that force is only used when absolutely necessary.”
I call on the Home Office to ensure the right people with the right attitudes are given the job of IMB chair!
