See also updates about the tireless campaigning of Daisy and family here: https://statusnow4all.org/enabling-nurse-daisy/
See posts regarding contingency accommodation which is sometimes quasi-detention
Frank Ospina’s death followed by reports of suicide attempts by other detainees at immigration centre
Lawyers and charities have predicted an unfolding crisis in immigration detention after the death of a detainee and reports of subsequent suicide attempts by others.
The Home Office confirmed that investigations had been launched by police and the prisons and probation ombudsman into the death of Frank Ospina on 26 March. He was being held at Colnbrook immigration removal centre near Heathrow next to the adjoining Harmondsworth immigration detention centre. He is believed to have been 39 and from Colombia. Detainees said he took his own life, although this has not been confirmed.
A notice to detainees from the centre manager Paul Rennie dated the day the man died states: “It is with respect that I have to announce that resident Mr Frank Ospina sadly passed away today.”
It adds: “Please be assured we are doing all we can to reduce the risks of such incidents happening again in the future.”
The Guardian received reports from several detainees that shortly after reports of Ospina’s death circulated, a number of detainees attempted suicide, and that some detainees staged a protest at the centre earlier this week.
Charities have also highlighted delays in carrying out what are known as rule 35 reports, which assess vulnerabilities of people in detention such as whether they are a suicide risk. The Home Office did not comment on these reports.
The detention problems come at a time when the Home Office has announced it will be expanding the use of immigration detention. In a fact sheet published on 31 March officials said that under the new rules “it is for the home secretary rather than the courts to determine what is a reasonable time period to detain an individual”
Continue reading “Detention Centres — IRCs”
