The significance of the home affairs committee report on immigration detention should not be underestimated (MPs scathing over ‘cavalier’ treatment of migrant detainees, 21 March). For years, Freedom from Torture has been highlighting how vulnerable people are being wrongly detained, for no good reason, and without adequate safeguards. In addition, our research shows that even where detainees are identified as being “vulnerable and at risk”, only 6% are released.

We see the devastating impact of detention on torture survivors – how it compounds trauma and can severely hamper recovery. The report highlights that inhumane treatment and poor decision-making – a hallmark of the hostile environment – continues to operate at all levels of the asylum system.

The UK has a proud tradition of offering safety to those in need – there can be none more deserving than a person fleeing torture. We should all be shamed by the inhumane and almost impossible battle survivors in the UK face in an asylum system that sets them up to fail. This report is a wake-up call for all asylum decision-makers tasked with what are, quite literally, life and death decisions. Torture survivors and the most vulnerable should never be detained.

Sonya Sceats

Chief executive, Freedom from Torture

• When is Sajid Javid going to get a grip of the Home Office? This department appears to be ungovernable. For all his inclusive and compassionate rhetoric, Javid appears to be presiding over an entity that does not adhere to the usual checks and balances of a fair and just system. I fully appreciate he has Brexit on his mind but his department needs an urgent overhaul. Treating detainees in a less than civilised manner is not conducive to ethical practice.

Judith Daniels

Great Yarmouth, Norfolk

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