Paul Redfern
12 August 2008
Nairobi — Dozens of people from East Africa including some children have been systematically abused, beaten and in some cases threatened with torture for failing to co-operate with attempts to deport them from Britain, according to a new report.
Outsourcing Abuse by Birnberg Peirce & Partners, Medical Justice and the National Coalition Against Deportation Campaign says an alarming number of injuries have been sustained by asylum deportees at the hand of private "escorts" contracted by the UK Home Office to force people to return home.
Of particular concern in Kenya maybe the fact that of the 113 cases of alleged abuse involving attempts to deport African detainees to their home country by air, 22 per cent were on Kenya Airways flights, the second highest number behind British Airways. In Nairobi, Kenya Airways declined comment saying the allegations involve the British Home Office.
The report also reveals evidence of widespread and seemingly systemic abuse of vulnerable people who have fled their own countries seeking safety and refuge, and says that assault claims have largely been brushed off by the Home Office.
Amongst the dozens of cases reported are those of a Kenyan woman, known only as Ms BM who, despite known to be suffering from a series of mental illnesses, alleges that she was handcuffed and sat upon by security officers at Yarl's Wood Immigration Centre during her battle to stay in the UK.
Most of the cases of abuse however concern Ugandans, and 29 cases are cited in the report. Many allegedly suffered racial abuse including a man known as Duncan Kasasa who was taken to Heathrow Airport and told he would be put on a plane home despite a very high blood pressure level and evidence that he was dizzy, sweaty and confused.
You are just faking it
One of the 'escorts' for Mr Kasasa reportedly told him: "You ..... bastard. You are going back to Uganda. You are just faking it, pretending."
He was handcuffed onto the plane and allegedly had his legs tied together.
Once on board he was punched and forced into a seat. A pillow was put over his mouth to stop him shouting out.
Some of the reports of abuse in the report are extremely detailed and some even involve children.
In a particularly distressing case involving one Ugandan woman, the SN Brussels pilot intervened to prevent the forced deportation after a woman was beaten and almost lost consciousness after being held around the neck.
Several women in particular are alleged to have attempted to take their own lives because of the abuse they are said to have received.
The report readily recognises that some asylum seekers do not have valid claims to refugee status but stresses that should not prevent their human rights being ignored.
The London Labour MP Dianne Abbot said that the information contained in the 70-page document was "one of the most shocking reports about our (UK) immigration system that I have seen in 20 years as a Member of Parliament.
"The report catalogues the frightening state-sponsored violence that happens to asylum-seekers when they are being deported. This report suggests a complete failure [by the Home Office] to investigate many of the allegations.
"This report is distressing and upsetting for anyone to read. But for (UK) Ministers it is a damning verdict on their inability to inject even a shred of humanity into a flailing immigration system."
Ms Abbot went on to say that "together with every right thinking person, those who read it will not want to believe what it contains. If the Home Office, Ministers and officials alike, is sensible it will pay due attention to the dossier.
They should recognise that our national reputation is not something to be treated lightly or wantonly, and that, if even one of the cases is substantiated, that amounts to something of a preventable national disgrace."
Lord David Ramsbotham, one of the authors of the report said: "I have seen many serious injuries with long lasting effects; crushing of nerves at the wrist from forceful pulling on handcuffs, limitation of neck movement by patients whose heads were pushed under aircraft seats, numbness of the face after blows around the cheek and eye. I have also seen a dislocated wrist, giant bruises and swellings the size of my fist.
"I have seen far worse abuses but do not have the patient's permission to reveal confidential medical information. Our report includes evidence from 18 independent doctors. Some of these findings are worse still.
They include dislocation to the knee requiring a plaster cast and several people rendered unable to walk for extended periods. Some were denied wheelchairs, pain relief and other essential treatment although in state custody."
An independent doctor Frank Arnold who was asked for his view on the evidence presented said that the report "reveals the extent of lawless disregard for basic rules in the application of force, combined with a wholly inadequate system for investigating often extremely serious criminal allegations."
Ms Harriet Wistrich, of the legal firm Birnberg Peirce & Partners, one of the authors of the report said she had "been shocked to discover, the extent of casual racism and inhumanity from officers employed by the Home Office and its subcontracted private companies.
"The Home Office uses charter flights and military planes to deport to places like Afghanistan and Iraq, and even arranged a private jet to deport one suicidal 14-year-old girl and her mother.
Meanwhile, asylum applications are at a 14-year low, yet the proportional use of detention has increased 7-fold.
One shudders to think what will happen if they fulfil their announcement to deal with 450,000 unresolved cases within five years.
The report's findings, are based on nearly 300 cases of alleged physical assault and racial abuse, and follow a four-year investigation into concerns about the control and use of private security firms in the deportation process.
Many of the allegations were first published in The Independent in October last year when ministers then dismissed the cases as being unsubstantiated and requested more evidence.
The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith has now been given the names and details of 48 of the claimants who want the Government to order fresh investigations into their cases.
A particularly disturbing feature of the report is that many of the allegations of abuse are made by refugees who came to this country because they claim to have been tortured or persecuted in their own country.
The authors say many of the alleged victims can no longer be contacted as they have been deported or are too frightened to put in claims in case it has an adverse effect on their applications.
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