‘Excessive force’ used in removals

October 21, 2004 in Adult safeguarding, Asylum and refugees

Campaigners have condemned the lack of action over allegations
that excessive and gratuitous force is being used during attempts
to remove asylum seekers whose asylum claims have been rejected
from the UK.

The study, carried out by the Medical Foundation for the Care of
Victims of Torture, looks at claims from 14 such asylum seekers and
finds that there may be a systematic problem of abuse rather than a
number of isolated incidents.

All the men featured had an injury that they claimed was the result
of excessive force. The report states that the medical data from
doctors’ examinations reveals “patterns of apparent abuse”.

Emma Ginn, from the Campaign to Stop Arbitrary Detention at Yarls
Wood, said that allegations of abuse had been reported before but
that “no-one had done anything about it”, allowing the alleged
attacks to continue with impunity.

Sarah Cutler, policy and research officer at the charity Bail for
Immigration Detainees, said that the report put the onus on the
government to make sure that removals were carried out
safely.

Ginn said that she heard allegations similar to those contained in
the report “on a weekly basis” and Cutler said that immigration
detainees had told her organisation that excessive and gratuitous
force during removals was a problem.

Research published by BID and Asylum Aid’s Refugee Women’s Resource
Project last month also contains allegations about mistreatment
during removal attempts.