In The Press

Jamie Bell, a solicitor in Duncan Lewis’ Public Law department, has spoken on RT about the proposed cap on the period within which someone may be detained in UK Immigration Removal Centres. This comes after shocking figures have been released which reveal that 27’000 people were held in immigration detention last year, costing the UK Government more than £500m in 4 years. Jamie explains that by failing to cap the period of detention, many detainees are held for longer than a reasonable period of time. It is his position that between 1 month and 4 months is too long to be held and that his clients have been psychologically damaged by remaining in detention for a lengthy periods of time. Jamie states: “The purpose of immigration detention is to remove. If they cannot be removed within 28 days then they shouldn’t be detained…The UK is the only country in Europe which has indefinite detention…People come to the United Kingdom to seek sanctuary and instead of being provided sanctuary, they are being locked up in detention for indefinite periods of time.”