THE UNITED KINGDOM


"Like Parcels, Not People":
G4S Immigration Detention Services in the UK


G4S has come under fire for its poor services and facilities for immigrants detained crossing British borders, and for mistakenly deporting a Zimbabwean woman whose removal had been cancelled by a High Court Review.

Escape from G4S-run Dungavel Detention Center

Reports Fault G4S for Treating Prisoners Inhumanely

In two recent investigations, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers exposed serious problems with eight short-term holding facilities managed by G4S for the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. These detention centers are used to hold people detained at the border.

The reports stated that accommodation at the Coquelles freight terminal was “disrespectful and wholly inadequate,” and that services at London’s Heathrow Airport were conducted in a way that was “neither humane nor efficient.”

Specifically, government investigators found that G4S:

  • Held detainees in facilities described by staff as comparable to “dog kennels;”
  • Put men and women in the same holding cells;
  • Had no appropriate child protection measures in place;
  • Compromised safety by providing inadequate information to detention personnel;
  • Did not perform criminal background checks on staff in contact with children before hiring them;
  • Did not provide detainees with legal advice and basic information about their status when asked; and
  • Managed removals poorly, resulting in the use of force and creating risks for the safety of detainees and staff.

Owers said that immigrants were dealt with “as though they were parcels, not people, and as parcels whose contents and destination were sometimes incorrect.”

G4S Mistake Sends Deportee to Zimbabwe

The case of a woman mistakenly deported to Zimbabwe is a particularly disturbing example of G4S' carelessness. According to the BBC, this woman’s deportation had been cancelled after a High Court review. The BBC reported that the Home Office faxed G4S to cancel the deportation, but that the temporary member of G4S staff who received the fax did not realize its importance.

“How anyone could fail to appreciate the significance of a fax from the Home Office telling them removal directions had been cancelled frankly escapes me,” Mr. Justice Collins commented. “Even a half-wit would understand. All I can say is that I sincerely hope nothing like this ever happens again.”