Serious concerns about the ‘one in, one out’ scheme

The Chair of the Independent Monitoring board has written to the Minister for Border Security and Asylum to raise serious concerns about the treatment of individuals detained under the UK France ‘one in, one out’ scheme, known operationally as Operation Hillmore.

Since the scheme began, Independent Monitoring Boards have been monitoring the treatment of those detained under it. What their members have observed raises significant concerns about the detention of children and other vulnerable individuals, safeguarding processes, access to legal advice and information, and the length of time some individuals are spending in detention.

The detention of children is particularly troubling.

IMBs have seen a high number of age disputes involving individuals detained under the scheme. Home Office guidance is clear that where there is doubt about an individual’s age, they should be treated as a child pending further consideration of their age.

Yet their monitors have found age disputed individuals in immigration detention. They have also observed lengthy delays in age assessment processes, including cases at Heathrow where individuals waited 40 days or more from arrival at the immigration removal centre to age assessment.

Their concerns also extend beyond age disputes. Boards have encountered individuals who are psychologically distressed, survivors of torture and abuse, and those identified as being at risk of suicide or self harm. They continue to have concerns about whether existing safeguarding and health processes are adequately identifying and responding to these vulnerabilities.

Access to legal support is another serious concern.

People detained under the scheme can have just seven days to respond to notification that they are to be removed to France. Their monitoring has found that meaningful access to legal advice within that timeframe can be extremely difficult. In some cases, individuals have been detained and removed without legal representation or assistance.

They are also concerned about the length of detention. Despite the intended rapid turnaround of the scheme, the average period in detention was 54 days. By late February, 79 men at Gatwick had been detained for more than 60 days, with one man spending more than 27 weeks in detention.