Immigration Solicitors

More than 100 detainees at Harmondsworth Detention Centre staged a hunger strike over the weekend, in protest at the government’s fast-track immigration policies.

Government rules means that asylum seekers can be detained while their asylum applications are processed.

On Friday (02/05/14), more than 100 asylum seekers detained at Harmondsworth began their hunger strike, after collecting in the internal courtyard of the detention centre.

The Independent reports that the privately run centre has a reputation for poor treatment of detainees.

Harmondsworth is situated in west London, near Heathrow Airport, and holds 615 inmates. A recent inspection revealed “shocking cases where a sense of humanity was lost” among detainees at the centre.

New Labour introduced fast-track asylum processing in 2003, under which immigration officials are able to make a decision about asylum cases within two weeks of receiving an application for asylum. During that time, the applicant remains in detention at Harmondsworth.

Some inmates are believed to be threatening to starve themselves to death amid escalating anger over the policy.

However, the trigger for the protest appears to have been the breakdown of a fax machine at the centre, which many asylum seekers were relying on to lodge appeals against failed asylum applications.

The strike was suspended by detainees after Home Office officials agreed to meet some of those detained at Harmondsworth. However, it is possible the hunger strike may resume if inmates become dissatisfied with their treatment again.

Critics of the fast-track asylum process say that, potentially, decisions could be made so quickly that all the facts of a case might not be properly considered, leading to “rushed and unfair outcomes”.

A detainee at Harmondsworth told The Independent:

“If we are stuck in a detention centre without a working fax machine or Internet access, how can we be expected to get the necessary proof needed to challenge decisions?”

The Independent also reports that, earlier in 2014, an 84-year-old detainee at Harmondsworth died after spending three weeks at the centre, where he was handcuffed. Dementia patient Alois Dvorzac was eventually taken to hospital, where he later died.

A spokesman for the Home Office said:

“Detention remains an essential element in protecting the UK’s borders and maintaining an effective immigration control. Detention is only used sparingly and for the shortest period necessary.”

Harmondsworth is run by a private company, the GEO Group, which declined to comment on the hunger strike.

Duncan Lewis Immigration Solicitors

Duncan Lewis immigration solicitors can advise on immigration and asylum law, including:

? Asylum appeals
? Citizenship
? Detention
? Housing benefit
? Illegal entry to the UK
? Marriage in the UK
? Right to work in the UK
? Removal from the UK
? Student visas.

Duncan Lewis is also one of the UK’s leading Legal Aid solicitors.

For expert legal advice on immigration and asylum, contact Duncan Lewis immigration solicitors on 020 7923 4020.