Once a Category C men's jail, which classes inmates as 'those who cannot be trusted in open conditions but who are unlikely to try to escape' — the Verne prison on the Isle of Portland in Dorset was converted into an Immigration Removal Center (IRC) in 2014, to house 600 male detainees from 18 years old upwards.
In the first inspection since the transformation from prison to Immigration Removal Center, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons report found high levels of violence: "And some of the violence was serious." Those inside have escaped torture, conflict and war zones, only to be detained in what was once a Victorian jail.
Independent inspector's report on violence and assaults at the Verne immigration detention centre: pic.twitter.com/nV2RbVoHMF
— Shoaib M Khan (@ShoaibMKhan) August 11, 2015
The former military citadel, built of stone during 1857-81 is now home to asylum seekers who have had their claim rejected and are awaiting deportation. The Immigration Removal Center is surrounded by a moat with access only by footbridge or tunnel.
Verne IRC report: 'a man describing torture, who had arrived over three weeks previously, had not been seen or assessed by a doctor'
— Tom (@tomgk90) August 11, 2015
The prison watchdog report said that the former Victorian fort remained "too prison-like in character" with too much fencing and razor wire.
The UK is the only country in Europe to allow the indefinite detention of migrants. Recent Home Office figures reveal that 30,000 migrants are detained indefinitely — some having never committed a crime.
Earlier this year, The Report of the Inquiry into the Use of Immigration Detention in the United Kingdom — a joint inquiry by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Refugees & the All Party Parliamentary Group on Migration — raised concerns that people are held in conditions "tantamount to high security prison settings."
The group expressed shock by "the personal testimonies they heard of people suffering from mental health conditions who were detained for prolonged periods of time."
"Current Home Office policy puts the heath of detainees at serious risk", the group said.
Independent inspector's report on length of immigration detention at the Verne immigration detention centre: pic.twitter.com/ZYojLmFmu7
— Shoaib M Khan (@ShoaibMKhan) August 11, 2015
The recent report into Verne also found that around 40 men had been held for more than a year — one man has been held for five years, which inspectors described as:
"…one of the worse cases of prolonged detention we have seen."
The HM report into Verne may well receive attention — but another story remains untold, and a blog — 'Detained Voices: Stories from inside UK Immigration Detention' is trying to change that.
Using written contributions and tweets from people being held inside Immigration Removal Centers the stories shed a light on the dark existence of detainees inside a removal center.
[New Post] On Friday morning someone died in the Verne http://t.co/erfziI0jBN
— Detained Voices (@detainedvoices) August 10, 2015
Someone killed themselves in the Verne only a few days ago. The first-hand account was written by another detainee and has just been published on Detained Voices.
"On Friday morning 3am someone died in the Verne."
From UK: Asylum seeker found dead at the Verne IRC http://t.co/AInWI31lot via @Dorsetecho
— Border Criminologies (@Bordercrim) August 11, 2015
"For some reason he killed himself. We are on the next landing to those guys. When the two officers did a room heck in the morning they found him."
When the guy died an officer came in laughing, and joking as if nothing happened. They just think a joke happened. https://t.co/aW1UgZS3SU
— Detained Voices (@detainedvoices) August 10, 2015
Many detainees are still struggling to come to terms with their indefinite detention in Verne.
"If you can't send me back at least let me go, let me think about my future. I'm thinking I'm going to be here 13 months and there's no way I can be here that long."
As for the response to the report from Chief Inspector of Prisons, Nick Hardwick:
The Verne Immigration Removal Centre was operating satisfactorily overall, but there was too much violence. Report: http://t.co/SZqp4isFxz
— HMI Prisons (@HMIPrisonsnews) August 11, 2015
"Overall, The Verne was operating satisfactorily. However, despite considerable efforts to prepare the institution for its new role, the environment and staff culture reflected an institution that had not yet come to terms with its new function as an IRC."
The Verne "clear evidence of the significant availability of psychoactive substances and illicit alcohol" http://t.co/iCHMMt2gOn #detention
— AVID (@AVIDdetention) August 11, 2015
The Home Office said it took detainees welfare "extremely seriously". A spokesperson said: "We are pleased the inspector has reported that they majority of detainees in The Verne felt safe and were positive about their treatment by staff."
However, the contrast in the HM Inspectorate report and the first-hand account published on Detained Voices is as stark as the Victorian conditions and stone-walled prison used to house the asylum seekers themselves.
The "high levels of violence", as the inspectors found, seems to be far from the reality of the situation — as described on Detained Voices.
"Another friend has been here 13 months. That's a long time. He is really upset. I've been here 7 months. I've don't know crime or nothing. I told them I'm going to kill myself as well.
"I haven't been eating for 4 days, since the guy died. They know I'm not eating and they're not doing anything. They don't care at all. We can't take this anymore."
