Seeking Asylum is not a Crime

In a report published in June 2005 Amnesty International challenges the government to reveal how many people who have sought asylum are detained each year and for how long. 

Seeking asylum is not a crime, yet an increasing number of people who have sought asylum in the UK are being detained under Immigration Act powers.

• Background
• Read the report 
• Video
• Case studies

 Background

The UK Government claims that detention is pivotal to their removal policy for people whose asylum claims have been rejected. In reality, Amnesty has found that people were detained even though the prospect of their forcible expulsion within a reasonable time was slim.

The Government also claims that detention for those who have sought asylum will only be used as a last resort. However, Amnesty believes that many thousands were detained in 2004, some languishing in detention for many months in grim prison-like conditions. Others were detained for the duration of the asylum process.

There are no maximum time limits on detention, nor is there an automatic and regular review by a court or a similar competent body as to the lawfulness of the decision to detain. Comprehensive statistics are not produced on the number of people held in detention who have sought asylum, or the length of their detention.

Cuts to legal aid for asylum cases mean that gaining access to competent and independent legal advice can be particularly difficult for those in detention, and some may be deprived of any legal representation at all.

Amnesty believes that the increased use of detention inflicts untold misery on the individuals concerned. The organisation considers that detention is not being carried out according to international standards and serves little purpose if any in the majority of cases. Amnesty is calling on the government to ensure that:

• Each decision to detain is automatically and regularly reviewed as to its lawfulness, necessity and appropriateness by a court or a similar independent and competent body, accompanied by the appropriate provision of legal aid
  
• Alternative non-custodial measures, such as reporting requirements, are always considered before resorting to detention
  
• Detailed statistics of the total number of people who have sought asylum at some stage and who are detained under Immigration Act powers are provided each year, noting the following:
• at what stage of their asylum application they were detained
• the duration of their detention
• the location of their detention
• their movements within the immigration detention estate
• their age if under 18 or over 65
• their gender
  
• There is a statutory prohibition on the detention of vulnerable people who have sought asylum, including:
• torture survivors
• pregnant women
• those with serious medical conditions
• the mentally ill and the elderly

Read the report

You can read the report online, or download the full report or summary:

Video: The Removed

Case studies