HM Inspectorate of Prisons - report on an unannounced inspection of the detention of migrants arriving in Dover in small boats

Numbers of cross-Channel migrants were high in 2020 but Peter Clarke, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, criticised a failure by the Home Office to plan “for what must have been a predictable increase.”

In September 2020 inspectors from HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMI Prisons) visited short-term immigration detention holding facilities at: Tug Haven in Dover, where migrants were first taken from the beach or sea; the Kent Intake Unit (KIU) in Dover, previously known as Dover Seaport; Frontier House in Folkestone; Lunar House in Croydon; and Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre in Bedford, which had been re-designated as a short-term holding facility. In the three months from June to August 2020, about 2,500 people were received at Tug Haven.

Many described journeys that had started several years previously and usually included some time spent in difficult conditions in Calais. They mainly came from Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Syria and Eritrea. In the three months from June to August 2020, about 2,500 people arrived at Tug Haven before being bailed or dispersed to other detention facilities. Small boat crossings have been increasing since late 2018.

Mr Clarke said: “While the number of arrivals had been far higher in 2020 than in previous years, the reception arrangements at Tug Haven were not fit for even small numbers. This was readily acknowledged by local Home Office staff who were themselves working in challenging conditions.”

Tug Haven resembled a building site. “Detainees almost always arrived wet and cold, but then often had to spend hours in the open air or in cramped containers… Basic supplies, including dry clothing, ran out during the inspection and some detainees were placed on escort vehicles in wet clothes,” Mr Clarke said. Despite this, however, detainees were almost all very positive about their treatment by staff.

Kent Intake Unit (KIU) and Frontier House were not suitable for very lengthy detentions. However, some detainees were held for more than two days in rooms with no sleeping facilities, showers or access to the open air.

Inspectors identified weaknesses in child safeguarding procedures and in one case a child was mistakenly taken to a detention centre for adults. One family group, held in Frontier House for 45 hours, included a baby and other children, aged 5, 7, 9 and 10.

Those detainees who were taken to Yarl’s Wood were received into a high standard of accommodation and reported that staff treated them well.

Mr Clarke said: “We met detainees who had been extremely traumatised after their long journeys, and their positive feedback on the decency shown to them by many individual staff cannot be underestimated. However, the detention facilities in Dover were very poorly equipped to meet their purpose and important processes had broken down.

“While some of the concerns identified can be addressed by local managers, an effective response requires coordinated and strategic action involving different Home Office agencies and the port authorities.”

Contingency planning in what had become a long-running situation, Mr Clarke added, “should be able to deliver a flexible and adequate response. So far it has not done so, and it is hard to understand this failure to prepare properly for what must have been a predictable increase in migrant numbers.

“Just because numbers are unprecedented, that does not mean they are unpredictable, or cannot be planned for. We look forward to seeing a properly coordinated plan that shows how conditions will be improved in future to meet fluctuating demand.”