Medical Justice evidence for the Joint Human Rights Committee – Inquiry into the Human Rights of Asylum Seekers in the UK

The Commons’ and Lords’ Joint Committee on Human Rights is conducting an inquiry into the rights of asylum seekers in the UK, with a view to identifying human rights concerns. This includes looking at whether rules on detention and processing, and the treatment of detained asylum seekers, are consistent with the UK’s human rights obligations.

In December 2022 Medical Justice submitted written evidence to the Inquiry. Our submission focussed on the so-called ‘safeguarding’ system in detention, explaining how it is both fundamentally flawed and poorly operated. The submission looks particularly at the Adults At Risk in Immigration Detention (AAR) policy, Rules 34 and 35 of the Detention Centre Rules (DCR) 2001, and the Detention Gatekeeper, as well as the treatment of detained people lack decision-making capacity.

Read our submission here