"A new paper based on statistics from members of Asylum Rights Campaign Detention sub-group suggests that indefinite immigration detention is widespread and growing across the UK.

Five small organisations were supporting 50 people detained for more than 2 years, an increase of 138% in 6 months.  138 detainees surveyed had been held for over a year.

The paper highlights the gross methodological flaw in the official UKBA statistics, which exclude detention in prisons and consequently understate the true scale of indefinite detention.  As support charities are in touch with only a small proportion of detainees, it is likely that many more people are being detained for periods of years than have been recorded. "



Jerome Phelps
Director
London Detainee Support Group