"The level of chaos that we found at Harmondsworth was truly shocking and we left deeply concerned that some of those held there were at imminent risk of harm," reported Charlie Taylor, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons, in a press release published on July 9.

A 68-page report by the HM Inspectorate of Prisons in the UK, which is independent of the government, said that the conditions in the center were "the worst" they had found among all the immigration removal centers in the UK.

One detainee told inspectors he felt like he was "living in a psychiatric hospital," such was the "high level of unmet mental health need" present at the center.

Publication delayed

The full report into conditions at the Harmondsworth immigrant detention center near Heathrow Airport in the UK should have been published in June this year but was delayed due to the General Election.

Now, in the first week of the new Labour government, the report has finally seen the light of day. The report was based on observations during an unannounced inspection between February 12 and 29 this year.

At the time, there were 454 detainees in the center. The center can hold 658 people in total, and is the largest of its kind in Europe, with capacity expected to be enlarged still further when staff numbers have sufficiently increased.

Dilapidated and run down

Inspectors noted that they found that "standards had fallen further since our critical inspection in 2017." Standards for safety and respect in the establishment had fallen from "not sufficiently good to poor" in that time.

Buildings were described as "dilapidated and run down," and there was an "alarming drop in cleanliness." When inspectors arrived, they found the center "grubby and in some areas filthy." Door window panels were smashed and the fabric of the building had been damaged.

In fact, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor was "so concerned" by conditions described in the report, "that he wrote to the then Home Secretary [James Cleverly] shortly after the inspection setting out the many failures at the center." He says he received "no response."

Delays to deportation

"Nobody should be detained in an immigration removal center unless they are going to be removed quickly from the country," continued Taylor. "Yet around 60 percent of detainees were released from the center, with only a third deported, which begs the question of why so much taxpayer money was being spent keeping them locked up in the first place."

The average length of detention at Harmondsworth was found to be at least 75 days, and the longest continuous period of detention was 753 days.

Suicide attempts, despair

Inspectors who visited the center in February this year found "drugs, despair and decrepit conditions," during their visit. Violence and "other unacceptable behavior, such as drug use had substantially increased," in the time since the previous visits, "and there had been numerous serious attempts at suicide in the center," stated the report. Thirty-two detainees were being managed on opiate substitute treatments by healthcare providers working in the center.

On average there are 90 arrivals a week, said inspectors. 63 percent of those arriving each month had already served a prison sentence. At the time of inspection, the largest nationality groups in the prison were Albanian and Indian.

There was even an attempt at suicide while the inspectors were visiting Harmondsworth, states the report. This attempt "resulted in grave injuries to the detainee." The inspectors said they found little staff supervision on some of the upper floors of the center, and "far more detainees than in similar centers said they had been subjected to threats, abuse and thefts."

Almost half of those who completed the inspectorate’s survey reported feeling suicidal. Inspectors say the center held "many men with known vulnerabilities, including 20 whom the Home Office had accepted would be likely to suffer harm from ongoing detention."

Despite this "obvious risk, and numerous serious suicide attempts," the report found that "the center had not implemented repeated recommendations from 'near-miss' investigations, including such basic steps as the removal of ligature points." At the time of the report, 20 detainees were assessed as being at the highest level of the Home Office Adults at Risk policy.

Self-harm prevention work at the center was found to be "generally poor." One man who had been placed on a "constant watch because he was assessed to be at imminent risk of self-harm, was being watched by no one."

Criminals detained alongside those with no convictions

The report added that it wasn’t just migrants being held at Harmondsworth. "Population pressure in prisons meant far more former prisoners were being held in Harmondsworth alongside those with no criminal conviction."

Assaults, said the report, "had doubled since the last inspection, [which was carried out in 2017] and drug-taking, usually rare in IRCs, was now widespread." Inspectors said they could "smell cannabis" and "saw detainees openly smoking in communal areas without being challenged by staff."

The capacity of cells had been "doubled up" so they could hold more people. The only exceptions to sharing cells were those deemed to be "at risk of serious harm. After two days, men who refused to share a room were taken to the separation unit by a team dressed in full personal protective equipment and kept there until they agreed to share."

Died after release

The inspectors highlighted the case of a man who died in a hotel soon after his release from detention. Inspectors say he had been subjected to severe mistreatment and exploited for sex work and forced labor before his detention.

In this case, no appropriate arrangements had been made for his safe release, the report said. His cousin reportedly collected him and took him to a hotel, where he died the following day.

The matter, stated the report, had not yet been investigated by a coroner "so it was not yet known whether or not there was a link between the detainee’s treatment in detention and subsequent death."

Mr A

The report also provided a case study of "Mr A," who had been detained in Harmondsworth at the end of his prison sentence. According to the report, he was transferred to the center on a stretcher. He had "multiple health problems, depression and learning difficulties." The Home Office had already accepted he was "not fit to be detained."

Although the Home Office caseworkers observed that Mr A didn’t appear to have much ability to "engage in the deportation process" and recognized his need to have an independent advocate and legal representation neither were obtained for him.

An order to move him into supported living was obtained for him, but in response, the Home Office then assessed the man as being "at risk" and said he should be released. The probation service however was not informed of this order and only learned of it three months later. So in the event, the Home Office proceeded with Mr A’s deportation.

After writing to Mr A’s embassy, the Home Office confirmed that there would be no state support available to him in his home country to provide for his needs, and he had no family who could support him. The Home Office has been writing to support charities to ask for help for him. While doing this, Mr A had been detained for over six months, and as an "at risk" person for four.

Staff and management

Many of the offices at the prison had red tape across their doors preventing people from entering. Nearly two-thirds of those detained in Harmondsworth told inspectors they felt "unsafe in the center."

Many of the staff were described as "inexperienced." One detainee told the inspector, "the most common answer you get from staff here is 'I don’t know’'"

Some detainees also told inspectors they felt the staff used "excessive force" and six percent of those detained complained of physical assaults by staff. In 2023, at least one member of staff was dismissed for assaulting a detainee, bullying and racism, reports The Guardian newspaper.

There were "staffing shortfalls" in the center, administered by Mitie Care and Custody, as well as a "shambolic rendering process run by the Home Office, which meant that leaders had no idea whether they would still be running the center in the next few months."

These contractual uncertainties had been going on since the previous year, stated the report, and had contributed to the difficulties in recruiting permanent senior staff, many of whom might only be in post "a matter of weeks."

Mitie acknowledges criticism and explains

On its website, Mitie claims to be the UK’s "largest provider of immigration removal center management and operations and secure escorting services for the Home Office." They say they "care for over 1,300 detainees" from over 85 different countries. Mitie claims to have registered more than 95 percent "customer satisfaction" scores across the prison facilities management sites they administer. It is unclear whether they are talking about the Home Office as their customer, or the people who are in their detention centers.

InfoMigrants approached Mitie for a statement in response to the report on Friday. They replied by email, saying they welcomed the report and that they knew standards "fell below the level we would expect at this facility."

They explained that a number of "critical factors impacted conditions at the IRC" at the time of the inspection. Refurbishment works, due to be completed in August this year, they said had led to an "interim increase in room occupancy rates."

Change in demographics

Mitie added that the increase in the numbers of Foreign National Offenders coming from prisons within the UK now represented between "50 and 60 percent of the total IRC population at any time." This had increased, they said from 31 percent in 2022.

"The change in demographics has led to a material increase in disruptive behaviors and incidents: between June and November 2023, there were 97 fights and incidents of violence, up from 26 incidents during same period the previous year, all of which involved TSFNOs."

In response, they stated that they had increased staffing levels, improved pay and contracted hours. These measures have resulted in a "material improvement in colleague engagement and reduced attrition rates." A new safety strategy is designed to further reduce incidents of violence, Mitie said.

In June, they said the Home Office had introduced a smoking ban across all IRCS. They said they were enforcing this ban with a "zero tolerance approach to infringement."

Mitie said they were working "tirelessly to implement the recommendations as soon as reasonably practicable."

Glimmers of hope?

On the plus side, Taylor commented that the new director, who was appointed in October 2023, had "a good understanding of the many challenges faced by the center and was beginning to make progress in improving the treatment of detainees." However, he added that "she will need strong and consistent support at every level to succeed."

Some of the recommendations made in 2017 had been achieved, conceded the inspectors. They recognized that detainees could now print documents confidentially, and had better access to supervised and safe gym equipment. Health services were also engaging more with detainees and responding appropriately to legitimate concerns.

Detainees claiming to be children were also able to undergo an approved assessment process. But the vast majority in each section had only been partially achieved, or not at all.

Home Office response

Emma Ginn, director of the charity Medical Justice, which supports immigration detainees, told the Guardian that she considered the conditions described in the inspectors' report on Harmondsworth to be "nothing short of a national emergency."

Ginn added that she believed the Home Office had had "long enough to improve detention conditions." A Home Office spokesperson told the Guardian, "we take the welfare and safety of people in our care very seriously and it is vital that detention and removals are carried out with dignity and respect." They added that "the number of custody officers and dedicated welfare staff at Harmondsworth IRC has been increased since the inspection."

Yvette Cooper, the new home secretary, is reviewing the issues with the UK's prison service this week. She admitted that there is no "quick fix" to what she described as the "legacy of chaos" and crisis her government inherited after 14 years of Conservative rule.