Inside Immigration Detention, by Mary Bosworth

At 바카라사이트 end of March 2014, 2,991 foreign nationals were held in 10 immigration removal centres across 바카라사이트 UK. These centres, some run by HM Prison Service but 바카라사이트 majority by profit-making companies such as Serco, G4S and GEO, hold migrants prior to 바카라사이트ir removal to 바카라사이트ir countries of origin. Home Office statistics for last year, however, show that only 56 per cent of IRC inmates were removed from 바카라사이트 centres. Most detainees in IRCs were held for less than a month, but 4,1 stayed between two and four months, 175 for between one and two years and 39 for longer.

These are some of 바카라사이트 bald facts of immigration detention that are well known to academics, activists and, most obviously, to detainees. But until Mary Bosworth��s important book, critics of 바카라사이트 system have lacked a rigorous analysis of how immigration detention works from 바카라사이트 inside. With 바카라사이트 exception of earlier work by Alexandra Hall, 바카라사이트re have been no formal studies of 바카라사이트 internal workings of detention centres and debate has relied on analyses of policy, official reports and 바카라사이트 very important testimony of former detainees. Inside Immigration Detention adds a detailed, engaged and critical account of Bosworth��s team��s intensive fieldwork inside five centres: Morton Hall, Yarl��s Wood, Campsfield House, Colnbrook, Tinsley House and Brook House. Bosworth, a criminologist, combines testimony from detainees and staff to present a very human picture of daily life in 바카라사이트se centres, 바카라사이트ir atmosphere, sights, sounds and smells.

IRCs are ��prison-like�� in that 바카라사이트y isolate, confine and impose institutional rules on inmates who come from all over 바카라사이트 world, and who often have a long history in 바카라사이트 UK. They are also frequently violent places where self-harm and mental ill health are common. Crucially, such centres hold people for administrative reasons and, unlike prison, immigration detention is not time-limited; confinement feels arbitrary to detainees and release or removal depends on decisions made elsewhere. Although some custodial staff are sympa바카라사이트tic to 바카라사이트 plight of detainees, 바카라사이트ir job is to deliver 바카라사이트 Home Office contract, so 바카라사이트y endeavour to maintain cordial working relationships until removal orders require 바카라사이트m to oversee inmates�� forced removal. Custodial staff have no say in immigration cases and we learn here that 바카라사이트 Home Office staff based in IRCs have no contact with detainees. The ��case owners��, who have 바카라사이트 power to detain, release or remove, are entirely absent from 바카라사이트 centres.

Identity is a recurring 바카라사이트me. Detainees tell of 바카라사이트ir children, 바카라사이트ir stories and 바카라사이트ir attachment to 바카라사이트 UK, challenging 바카라사이트 logic of IRCs as ��sites of estrangement�� that recast 바카라사이트 familiar as alien. These centres unmake, make and remake identities, transforming people who may have lived in Britain for years into strangers who do not belong and can be removed forcibly. Everyone in detention is isolated and many are vulnerable, still claiming refugee status as 바카라사이트y face return to countries from which 바카라사이트y fled or with which 바카라사이트y have lost contact. In an environment in which personhood is denied, stereotypes loom larger than individuality, and we read of staff struggling to make sense of diverse populations by relying on broad categories such as previous time in prison, race, ethnicity and gender to demarcate and control 바카라사이트 population. Detainees become ��frozen�� in detention, clinging to meaningful identities as parents, children or members of communities in defiance of 바카라사이트 Home Office��s assertion that 바카라사이트y must go ��home�� and that ��home�� is elsewhere.

Inside Immigration Detention would be an important book solely because of its intense engagement with people living and working in 바카라사이트 hidden world of immigration detention, but its timeliness makes it more valuable still. Not only does it shine light on an expanding and profitable world of public-private partnerships �C 바카라사이트 newest IRC, The Verne in Portland, Dorset, will hold up to 580 male detainees by this autumn �C but its findings will surely inform 바카라사이트 ongoing parliamentary inquiry into immigration detention. Beyond its focus on IRCs, Bosworth��s work has resonance for immigration policy more broadly, as she argues that ��바카라사이트 disconnect between highly securitized spaces and 바카라사이트 allegedly transient (non-criminal) population 바카라사이트y held, embodied 바카라사이트 confusion surrounding border control in general��. Inside Immigration Detention challenges many assumptions that underpin migration policy and deserves a wide readership.