Asylum Seekers

Staff training at immigration detention centres must be improved, says an official report which recorded a catalogue of racist behaviour in the system.
The race relations audit, published yesterday, found that officers at several centres had taunted detainees - describing them as "black bastards" in one case - and found a "tense" and "turbulent" atmosphere in some units.

It ranked the largest centre, Harmondsworth - run by private operator Kaylx, as the worst performer of the 10. Haslar in Hampshire topped the table while Dover came second. Both are operated by the Prison Service.

Peter Tatchell - a human rights campaigner, and a member of the queer rights group OutRage! says "Britain's asylum system is a regime that includes government-tolerated criminality. Illegal acts and the abuse of asylum applicants are allowed to happen and are not punished. Many of these violations of the rule of law are perpetrated by the private companies that are contracted by the Home Office to run asylum detention camps and the deportation of would-be refugees.

NEW asylum seekers are being electronically tagged to stop them vanishing if their applications to stay in Britain fail.

Eight hundred tags have been bought by the Home Office and are being fitted to asylum seekers as they arrive in the country. But refugee groups say it is unnecessary and treats them like criminals.