Despite the growth of detention centres for refugees and migrants, they remain shrouded in secrecy. Two insiders speak out.
This article was first published on newhumanist.org.uk / 25-07-2016
Over the past quarter-century, in the shadows of British society, the incarceration of refugees and other migrants has boomed. In the early 1990s, the Home Office had just a few hundred cells for holding people who were about to be deported. Now, it has the capacity to lock up thousands of people at any moment, with no time limit, while it tries to deport them. Recent figures show that there are 3,666 “beds” in ten detention centres across Britain.