This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/12/torture-survivors-uk-detention-centres-home-office-high-court-ruling
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| I sought refuge from torture in the UK. Only to be locked up again | I sought refuge from torture in the UK. Only to be locked up again |
| (4 months later) | |
| Thu 12 Oct 2017 16.05 BST | |
| Last modified on Thu 12 Oct 2017 19.08 BST | |
| Share on Facebook | |
| Share on Twitter | |
| Share via Email | |
| View more sharing options | |
| Share on LinkedIn | |
| Share on Pinterest | |
| Share on Google+ | |
| Share on WhatsApp | |
| Share on Messenger | |
| Close | |
| I am a torture survivor who was once wrongly detained by the Home Office. So when I read that the high court has ruled that, by meddling with the torture definition and imprisoning survivors, the Home Office had acted unlawfully, I was shocked and relieved. | I am a torture survivor who was once wrongly detained by the Home Office. So when I read that the high court has ruled that, by meddling with the torture definition and imprisoning survivors, the Home Office had acted unlawfully, I was shocked and relieved. |
| In September 2016 the Home Office introduced an “adults at risk” policy that redefined torture to exclude torture committed by non-state actors like rebel forces or other armed groups. They then used this policy to lock up survivors who were tortured in these circumstances. | In September 2016 the Home Office introduced an “adults at risk” policy that redefined torture to exclude torture committed by non-state actors like rebel forces or other armed groups. They then used this policy to lock up survivors who were tortured in these circumstances. |
| I came to the UK over 10 years ago after enduring months of torture. I don’t feel safe naming the country I am from, but what I can say is that it was in Africa. I didn’t know where I was going when I managed to escape. I arrived in the UK with a dislocated knee, sustained while escaping my torturers, and claimed asylum on arrival. | I came to the UK over 10 years ago after enduring months of torture. I don’t feel safe naming the country I am from, but what I can say is that it was in Africa. I didn’t know where I was going when I managed to escape. I arrived in the UK with a dislocated knee, sustained while escaping my torturers, and claimed asylum on arrival. |
| I immediately found myself in Harmondsworth immigration detention centre. Detention in any form is a living hell for people like me. Back then I was in the detained fast track system, set up by the government to detain asylum applicants whose cases they believed could be determined quickly. Back then the Home Office’s own policies stated that torture survivors should be excluded from detention. | I immediately found myself in Harmondsworth immigration detention centre. Detention in any form is a living hell for people like me. Back then I was in the detained fast track system, set up by the government to detain asylum applicants whose cases they believed could be determined quickly. Back then the Home Office’s own policies stated that torture survivors should be excluded from detention. |
| I was taken to a small room. I still remember the sound of clinking keys and far-off voices laughing. My head was spinning. I couldn’t understand what was happening. Flashbacks of the torture I had escaped came back immediately. I was scared that it would start all over again. It made me suicidal. I became paranoid and started hallucinating. | I was taken to a small room. I still remember the sound of clinking keys and far-off voices laughing. My head was spinning. I couldn’t understand what was happening. Flashbacks of the torture I had escaped came back immediately. I was scared that it would start all over again. It made me suicidal. I became paranoid and started hallucinating. |
| On the day of my asylum interview, the Home Office official, with no explanation or charge against me, put me into detention. He told me: “We are taking you to a safe place where you will be given a phone card to contact people back home. You will be given food and you can see a doctor.” Five minutes later I was handcuffed like a criminal and taken to Harmondsworth. | On the day of my asylum interview, the Home Office official, with no explanation or charge against me, put me into detention. He told me: “We are taking you to a safe place where you will be given a phone card to contact people back home. You will be given food and you can see a doctor.” Five minutes later I was handcuffed like a criminal and taken to Harmondsworth. |
| On my second day there, the doctor gave me antidepressants. I was allocated a solicitor who saw that I was in a bad state. I was beginning to feel that my life was not worth living. My solicitor referred me to the charity Freedom from Torture for help. | On my second day there, the doctor gave me antidepressants. I was allocated a solicitor who saw that I was in a bad state. I was beginning to feel that my life was not worth living. My solicitor referred me to the charity Freedom from Torture for help. |
| Two days later I had a Home Office interview that to me felt like an interrogation. After the interview, I was back in Harmondsworth. | Two days later I had a Home Office interview that to me felt like an interrogation. After the interview, I was back in Harmondsworth. |
| I heard the noise of keys as the officers came for me. They opened the door and asked me to follow them. The idea that I might be put on a plane to return home began to sink in. Each step for me felt like suffering falaka – the method of torture I had endured that involved hitting the soles of my feet with heavy rubber each time I could not answer a question. I was shaking and I could not speak. Three weeks later, I was released. | I heard the noise of keys as the officers came for me. They opened the door and asked me to follow them. The idea that I might be put on a plane to return home began to sink in. Each step for me felt like suffering falaka – the method of torture I had endured that involved hitting the soles of my feet with heavy rubber each time I could not answer a question. I was shaking and I could not speak. Three weeks later, I was released. |
| Shortly afterwards, I started clinical treatment at Freedom from Torture, but even now that I have permission to stay in the UK, and am working professionally and closely involved with various human rights organisations, I still worry that immigration control will come for me, that they will lock me up. I regularly have nightmares, magnified by the time I spent in Harmondsworth. And these fears return each time I hear its name. | Shortly afterwards, I started clinical treatment at Freedom from Torture, but even now that I have permission to stay in the UK, and am working professionally and closely involved with various human rights organisations, I still worry that immigration control will come for me, that they will lock me up. I regularly have nightmares, magnified by the time I spent in Harmondsworth. And these fears return each time I hear its name. |
| Things are supposed to have changed for the better in more recent years. The detained fast track was abolished because the courts found it so unfair. As home secretary, Theresa May commissioned the Shaw review to strengthen safeguards against the detention of vulnerable people, including torture survivors. Survivors Speak Out, a network of former clients of Freedom from Torture that I co-founded, contributed to this review, calling for more effective safeguards to prevent survivors from being detained. We hoped that it would mark an end to the trauma of detention that torture survivors like me experienced in the UK. | Things are supposed to have changed for the better in more recent years. The detained fast track was abolished because the courts found it so unfair. As home secretary, Theresa May commissioned the Shaw review to strengthen safeguards against the detention of vulnerable people, including torture survivors. Survivors Speak Out, a network of former clients of Freedom from Torture that I co-founded, contributed to this review, calling for more effective safeguards to prevent survivors from being detained. We hoped that it would mark an end to the trauma of detention that torture survivors like me experienced in the UK. |
| But instead the Home Office released their “adults at risk” policy, which made it easier for officials to detain torture survivors – and harder for doctors and lawyers to secure our release. If you can try to imagine the long-term impact of detention on torture survivors, then you’ll understand how sad it is for us that our calls fell on deaf ears. It is painful to think that others continue to face what we have. | But instead the Home Office released their “adults at risk” policy, which made it easier for officials to detain torture survivors – and harder for doctors and lawyers to secure our release. If you can try to imagine the long-term impact of detention on torture survivors, then you’ll understand how sad it is for us that our calls fell on deaf ears. It is painful to think that others continue to face what we have. |
| So we welcome the high court judgment, in response to a challenge brought by seven victims of torture in conjunction with Medical Justice, but now it needs to be acted on. | So we welcome the high court judgment, in response to a challenge brought by seven victims of torture in conjunction with Medical Justice, but now it needs to be acted on. |
| As well as fixing its flawed policy and restoring the wider definition of torture to recognise torture by non-state actors, the Home Office should deliver other reforms to protect torture survivors from detention, including access to independent heath assessments and good legal advice. Frontline staff in detention centres must also be trained to identify signs of trauma in order to release survivors of torture from detention without delay. | As well as fixing its flawed policy and restoring the wider definition of torture to recognise torture by non-state actors, the Home Office should deliver other reforms to protect torture survivors from detention, including access to independent heath assessments and good legal advice. Frontline staff in detention centres must also be trained to identify signs of trauma in order to release survivors of torture from detention without delay. |
| Furthermore, any independent medical evidence of torture must also be properly taken into account to ensure quality decisions on asylum claims. And crucially, survivors of torture must be immediately referred to specialist organisations who can help them to come to terms with their past. | Furthermore, any independent medical evidence of torture must also be properly taken into account to ensure quality decisions on asylum claims. And crucially, survivors of torture must be immediately referred to specialist organisations who can help them to come to terms with their past. |
| Torture survivors like me should never have been locked up. On the one hand, the government itself admits that immigration detention is unsuitable for torture survivors, while on the other hand it creates policies that increase the risk of this happening. Hopefully this judgment by the high court will put a stop to this absurdity once and for all. It may not have been physical torture in Harmondsworth, but for me and many others, it was mental torture of a kind you cannot imagine. | Torture survivors like me should never have been locked up. On the one hand, the government itself admits that immigration detention is unsuitable for torture survivors, while on the other hand it creates policies that increase the risk of this happening. Hopefully this judgment by the high court will put a stop to this absurdity once and for all. It may not have been physical torture in Harmondsworth, but for me and many others, it was mental torture of a kind you cannot imagine. |
| • Serge Eric is a survivor of torture, and co-founder of Survivors Speak OUT | • Serge Eric is a survivor of torture, and co-founder of Survivors Speak OUT |
| Torture | |
| Opinion | |
| Immigration and asylum | |
| comment | |
| Share on Facebook | |
| Share on Twitter | |
| Share via Email | |
| Share on LinkedIn | |
| Share on Pinterest | |
| Share on Google+ | |
| Share on WhatsApp | |
| Share on Messenger | |
| Reuse this content |