Brook House: High rates of suicide attempts at asylum centre

Brook House immigration removal centre, near Gatwick Airport, can hold up to 448 detainees

High levels of self-harm and suicide attempts have been found among detainees at an immigration centre.

Serious concerns were raised by the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) about Brook House near Gatwick Airport.

The centre is used to house asylum seekers awaiting deportation flights.

Steve Hewer, contract director at Serco, which runs the centre, said he was pleased the IMB recognised that detainees were "generally treated humanely".

Brook House can house up to 448 people, although far fewer were held there during the pandemic in 2020, when the monitoring board carried out its inspection.

Investigators found the relationships between officers and detainees "appear generally positive", and the men at the centre were generally treated humanely.

But they also noted a few instances where staff expressed "what appear to be desensitised points of view".

This included a comment from one officer who said a detainee "can't be allowed to show that self-harm will stop deportation".

'Dignity and respect'

The centre was being used to house people who had arrived in the UK by crossing the English Channel in small boats at the time of the inspection.

An increased number of deportation flights were put on in the run-up to the UK leaving the EU on 31 December 2020.

Brook House IMB chair Mary Molyneux said: "The impact of the Home Office's unusually compressed charter flight programme on an especially vulnerable population led to unprecedented levels of self-harm and suicidal thoughts and attempts in the last five months of 2020."

Mr Hewer said: "Relationships between Serco officers and the detainees appear generally positive."

He added: "They [the IMB] have highlighted that on numerous occasions Board members have recorded observations of detainees being treated with dignity and respect and have witnessed good interactions and relationships."

The Home Office said "the health and welfare of those in detention is of the utmost importance".

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