On 4th June, a man detained under Immigration Act powers in a Dorset prison was found dead in his cell. The Independent reports that: 'Sources said the prison authorities “strongly” believed that he died of natural causes, but Dorset Police would only say his death had been “sudden” and that the matter had now been referred to the coroner.'
The Independent goes on to quote BID's Pierre Makhlouf: 'Placing immigration detainees under prison conditions such as at HMP The Verne is inappropriate and against international guidelines...
Yet the Government detains immigration detainees in about 80 prisons around the UK. The prison regime makes it difficult to contact the outside world, to access legal advice and representation or to communicate with their family and friends. These communication difficulties also make it harder for detainees to contact the Home Office in order to progress their immigration case. Such isolation and the denigration detainees feel at being incarcerated for prolonged periods simply because they are foreign nationals leads to desperation.'
