‘DRAINING THE COLOUR from our lives’

Accompanying those held in immigration detention has been a central part of the work of JRS UK since its beginnings. William Neal explains the context in which three of JRS’s refugee friends tell their stories.

Despite over 20,000 people experiencing detention each year, it can sometimes feel that immigration detention is one of the lesser-known elements of our immigration system, as if those who experience detention are hidden in plain sight.

Through the Jesuit Refugee Service’s (JRS) work supporting men and women held at two immigration removal centres (IRCs) near Heathrow Airport, we see the crushing impact any period of detention has on a person. People are wrenched from their lives and separated from families, friends and communities, leaving them feeling incredibly isolated. Immigration detention is indefinite with no release date, and no time limit on how long you may be held.

At a time when asylum seekers, refugees and migrants are reduced to being instrumentalised in point-scoring politics, it is important to remember the human beings at the centre of these policies and the real, lasting impact that immigration detention has. They are voices of stress, frustration, anxiety and anguish. But also voices of immense resilience in the most challenging of circumstances.

‘There are a lot of things in here that don’t make sense. The system is not fair. You’re getting treated the same as in prison, or even worse. It is really overwhelming with everything because you’re not in prison but you’re not out. Nothing is explained so it’s just really confusing. There is no one who is showing you the way forward. No one takes time to help.

‘It was difficult to cope, especially for people who had any mental health issues. There just is not enough help for mental health issues. I was waiting 47 days to see a doctor and I didn’t even manage to see the doctor before I was released.

‘I worked when I was in detention and this helped me to get through it. The pay I received for the work wasn’t fair but it was more about occupying your mind rather than the work itself. Just to have something to do and not to be stuck in your room. Especially for someone like me, I liked to keep myself to myself. There were moments when I just stopped coming out of my room altogether.

‘The only way you could contact the Home Office was through your Engagement Officer but they couldn’t really do anything and there was no direct contact with the person responsible for your case. They don’t put enough effort into finding out who they are dealing with and looking at the circumstances of that person. We need to be seen as people and not as numbers.

‘I could always come and have a chat with JRS. It was helpful to know that there was someone there for me. I think there should be listeners there as part of the system – it shouldn’t be up to charities.’

Dom* was detained for two months at Harmondsworth IRC. He was released at the end of March and currently has a pending application within the National Referral Mechanism – the process that supports those who have experienced modern slavery or human trafficking.

‘There are a lot of things in here that don’t make sense. The system is not fair. It is inhumane and it is not safe. I am depressed, I am feeling sad and I am feeling lonely – it is like my life is over.

‘The depression gets to you. I don’t have the support I need in here and they have taken everything away from us. I don’t understand how the British authorities are allowing this to happen. I can’t stand this place.

‘It is very difficult. If you are coming to a country that you don’t know and you cannot speak the language, you should be helped. There are people that come here from traumatic places. There are people that don’t cope being here at all.

‘I don’t think people know how disgraceful a place this is. They don’t care about us, they don’t care about anybody. It is an unpleasant place to be in. They only care about their business. They’re robots, not humans.

‘Even the solicitors in here don’t help. People should recognise what they’re paying for. It is a waste of taxpayers’ money to pay for people who don’t care. The solicitors say that they will help but they don’t care. To be honest, it is thanks to JRS that I was able to get a solicitor. Without a solicitor I would be out of this country – they would have sent me back with nothing.

‘The support that I receive from charities is a very good thing. We need more people like that to support us in here. But most importantly there needs to be some heart in the way our cases are dealt with – we are judged on the papers and not on the person.’

Alex* is currently detained in Harmondsworth IRC. He was granted refugee status as a child but after a conviction that led to a sentence in a young offender institute he has faced deportation action despite his whole family being in the UK.

‘A normal day in detention is a day drained of colour. A day of enormous stress, with people shouting, people banging on walls. We tried to hold onto hope and support one another while there. It has impacted our lives, not only then, but also now, once released, it has changed us.

‘It was traumatic for me. It was horrifying. I have never visited a place like this before in my life. It really transcends everything, touching on so many aspects of being human. It affected us in the moment and it has affected our future selves. It isn’t anything I ever want to remember and we have to fight to try and leave it behind and not to have it affect us now, draining that colour from our lives now.

‘I saw people deteriorate rapidly. There was one woman who was diabetic and was managing okay but then they took away her medication, the medication she had been taking for years, and replaced it with what they considered appropriate for her. She became very ill quite suddenly. I had a similar problem but when I spoke to an external inspector suddenly I got my medication back and everyone was being nice to me.

‘I got my strength from God. My faith spurred me on in the morning and in the evening when we could never sleep. I held onto my faith and knowing God was there with us,

SUPPORTING JRS’S WORK IN DETENTION

The JRS Detention Outreach Team of staff and volunteers works with men and women detained near Heathrow Airport. The team offers practical support, phone credit top-ups and casework advice, alongside emotional and pastoral support. We are grateful to all the generous supporters who make this work possible. If you are able, please consider donating to support our work and enable the JRS team to continue accompanying people in immigration detention: www.jrsuk.net/donate and the second strength was the love of my children. It was not at all easy, none of it was at all easy.’

Immigration detention is indefinite with no release date, and no time limit on how long you may be held.

Jan* was detained with her daughter in the Sahara Unit, a female unit of Colnbrook IRC, whilst her adult son was held in the main Colnbrook building. The family were moved frequently around the detention estate and she was separated from her son the entire time.

*Names have been changed to preserve anonymity.