Home Office fails to protect vulnerable migrants, high court judge rules

"The Home Office has failed to protect vulnerable migrants it locks up in detention centres, a high court judge has ruled. Mrs Justice Jefford found an unlawful failure of the systems designed to protect immigration detainees from inhuman and degrading treatment under article 3 of the European convention on human rights and that these failings have been going on for years. The judgment could affect thousands of migrants who are at risk behind bars."

"The focus of the case was on a safeguard known as rule 35. It requires medical practitioners at detention centres to issue reports to the Home Office when they have concerns about specific vulnerabilities, such as suicide risk or mental health problems, which may make a person unsuitable for immigration detention so the Home Office can urgently review their continued detention."

"The men who brought the case displayed worsening mental illness and signs of serious self-harm while in detention. Both had periods on constant suicide watch, after a separate process known as the assessment care in detention and teamwork process (ACDT). But despite being on suicide watch, neither had their suitability for continued detention assessed. The judge found significant evidence the system had not been working for years, and that many of these issues were known about at least as far back as 2017."

High Court found that the Home Office unlawfully failed to protect vulnerable migrants detained in immigration centres, breaching Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Two detainees from Egypt and Bangladesh, detained between 28 July 2023 and 11 March 2024 at Brook House near Gatwick, brought the case. Brook House faced undercover filming and a public inquiry in 2017 that raised concerns about treatment of vulnerable detainees. The case focused on rule 35, which requires medical practitioners to report vulnerabilities such as suicide risk so the Home Office can urgently review detention. Both men showed worsening mental illness and self-harm and spent time on constant suicide watch, yet neither received rule 35 assessments. The judge found systemic failures persisting since at least 2017.

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