In response to an upcoming BBC Panorama undercover documentary examining immigration detention, G4S have suspended nine members of staff pending abuse allegations. You can read their statement here.

The mistreatment is being condemned by politicians and civil society.  However, the problems go much deeper than just nine members of staff. The immigration detention system is broken and creates the situations in which innocent people can be abused. Commenting on the story Mia Hasenson-Gross, Director of René Cassin, said “the abuse is a symptom of a much wider problem. Tinkering with safeguards and staff behaviour doesn’t solve the systemic issue that detention is itself harmful and a catalyst for making vulnerable people even more vulnerable”

The UK is still one of the only countries in Europe that does not have a time limit on how long someone can be held in immigration detention.

The Detention Forum released this response to the allegations.

On the 4th September, Stephen Shaw starts his second Home Office commission review into detention, analysing what progress the Home Office has made on the 64 recommendations that came out of his last report. Now is the perfect time to remind your local MP that it is time for a time limit. You can send them this up-to-date briefing paper.