LONDON, UK: Britain’s Chief Inspector of Prisons Monday lashed out at the “unacceptable” detention conditions faced by migrants, especially children, at Luton airport near London.
The Rishi Sunak conservative government has made fighting irregular migration one of its priorities and has promised to enhance migrant expulsions.
Last week, UK parliament voted in favour of a controversial law allowing for illegal migrants to be sent to Rwanda.
Prisons chief Charlie Taylor wrote in a report released on Monday: “Luton (airport) was simply unable to cope with the demands placed on it and we were particularly concerned to find that children were placed in crowded holding rooms with unrelated adults.”
Most UK airports have detention centers where migrants arriving by plane or transferred from other centers are temporarily held.
More than 17,400 migrants were held in these centers from June to November 2023.
During this time, nearly 3,000 people were sent to the center at Luton Airport in north London, making it the largest center in England and Wales.
The most immediate challenge for the Home Office is to find a solution to the unacceptable situation in Luton,” Taylor said in his report.
He added that migrants are kept for a long time in facilities that are not equipped for long-term stays.
Migrants are supposed to stay in such centers for just a few hours, but Taylor noted, more than a quarter stayed in Luton for more than 12 hours.
Nearly 600 people, including six children, were kept there for more than 24 hours.
In response, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior said that the ministry was trying to ensure that detention at the detention centers is as short as possible.
He also stressed that those who are detained are kept in safe and appropriate conditions.
