Earlier this week, shocking footage was published of immigrants, kept at a detention centre located near London, allegedly being choked, mocked and abused by guards. The facility, called the Brook House Immigration Removal Centre, is run by G4S, a private security firm. The footage, gained through undercover work done for the BBC by Callum Tulley, a young guard-turned-whistleblower, highlighted abuses taking place well after the company had supposedly been warned about abusive practices there. While a number of staff members have since been suspended pending further investigations, the revelations have raised many questions about Britain’s programme for detaining foreigners ahead of deportation.

There are 12 detention centres across Britain, some run by private security firms such as G4S, and others by the prison service. They are meant to be temporary places for people to wait either while their applications to stay in Britain are dealt with or after they’ve been refused the right to stay and are set to be deported. Brook House was meant to hold people for just 72 hours. However, the BBC investigation said that a significant number of people are detained there for well over a year.

Prison-like conditions

Human rights groups have long been critical of these centres, often run under conditions similar to those of prisons, but without the option of judicial review. The BBC investigation depicted Brook House as a brutal place where violence and drugs are rife, with little attempt by those in charge to contain the issues.

Some of those detained see deportation as freedom from the harsh conditions they are being kept in. Mr. Tulley, the whistleblower, documented a shocking case where one inmate attempted suicide after his departure was delayed, provoking a callous reaction from those working at the centre. The centres are also places where foreign criminals, often with a history of violence, live side by side with those who’ve either overstayed their visa or had their asylum application rejected.

Among those to be taken to Brook House in recent days was an Afghani man Samim Bigzad, whose request to remain in Britain had been rejected though he was the carer for his elderly father. The story had attracted headlines last month after a pilot working for Turkish Airways refused to take off with him on board, not wishing to be complicit in the government’s treatment. The BBC programme also highlighted the experience of an Indian care worker held in the centre over a visa issue, and eventually returned to India. The Indian expressed his disbelief about the conditions at the facility and the proliferation of drugs there.

It is far from the first time such detention centres have come into the spotlight. Campaigners have repeatedly highlighted deaths in custody or exploitation of those detained. During the course of their stay, they are made to work at wages far lower than the British minimum wage. In 2015, a report by a group of MPs had suggested a 28-day limit on detention in such centres. It had also advocated reduced use of such facilities, noting that alternatives such as keeping people in communities were cheaper. In 2016, a separate report by a former prison ombudsman had also stressed the impact of detention on the mental health of the people and an urgent need for reform.

With little change so far, pressure has continued to build, with protests outside the Home Office on Wednesday calling for reform and an end to the use of such facilities. Whether these shocking revelations are enough to trigger a wider reform remains to be seen.

Vidya Ram works for The Hindu and is based in London.