04/30/2024 – 0:00
The Chief Inspector of British Prisons, Charlie Taylor, in a report published this Monday (29), condemned the conditions in which migrants, especially children, are detained at an airport near London.
“Luddite Airport does not have the capacity to cope with the demands it faces and it is particularly worrying for us to find children in detention rooms with adults who are not their family members,” points out Taylor.
Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government has made combating irregular immigration a priority of its administration. Parliament last week approved controversial legislation that would allow the deportation of undocumented migrants to Rwanda.
Most British airports have detention centers where migrants arriving by air or transferred from other centers are accommodated. More than 17,400 migrants were taken to these centers between June and November 2023.
Around 3,000 people were sent to a detention center at Luton Airport in north London during this period. “The Home Office's most urgent challenge is to find a solution to the unacceptable conditions in Luton,” Taylor highlighted in the report, adding that migrants are staying too long in facilities unsuitable for long-term care. 600 people, including six children, were stranded in Luton for more than 24 hours.
According to a Home Office spokesperson, the facility works to “ensure that stays in facilities are as short as possible” and that “detainees are kept in a safe and decent condition”.
