HMP Huntercombe: Foreign prisoners unfairly treated, report finds

The Independent Monitoring Board said the problems had led to "significant" issues at the Oxfordshire jail

The way that some foreign prisoners were detained in a jail after their sentences had ended was "unfair and highly discriminatory", a report found.

HMP Huntercombe's Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) said Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and Home Office delays led to "significant" issues.

The Oxfordshire prison has housed foreign nationals since 2012.

A government spokesperson said its priority was "removing foreign national offenders as quickly as possible".

The "vast majority" of HMP Huntercombe's prisoners are eventually deported to the country of their origin, the report said.

But the board said it was a "matter of great concern" that about 17 prisoners at the end of last year had finished their sentences but were being held under convicted criminal conditions.

'Ensuing frustrations'

It said it had raised the matter previously but it had not been properly addressed by authorities.

The MoJ is responsible for prisoners' welfare while the Home Office is responsible for issuing paperwork to remove the prisoners from the UK.

The board said an "apparent shortage of staff" at the Home Office meant "too many" prisoners arrived at Huntercombe close to or already past their early release date.

That left prison staff to deal with prisoners' "ensuing frustrations" over leaving the country, the board said.

Olga Senior, the chair of the monitoring board, said: "The impact on these individuals and their families is significant, while there is also the issue of space being occupied that is needed."

The government spokesperson said: "The IMB report rightly notes that these prisoners are treated fairly and humanely.

"Our priority is removing foreign national offenders as quickly as possible and we have removed more than 10,000 since January 2019."

The IMB did note "good work" had been done at the prison despite the impact of Covid-19.