Oakington IRC
Oakington IRC was a UK immigration removal centre. It opened in March 2000, under Group 4/Group 4 Falck and its subsidiary Global Solutions Ltd.(GSL). The centre was later run by G4S. Oakington closed in 2010 after repeated scandals.[1]
2000 escapes
Within its first month of opening, six detainees escaped from Oakington.[2]
2005 BBC undercover
In March 2005, when Oakington was run by Global Solutions Ltd. (GSL), BBC journalists got jobs at the centre and produced 'Detention Undercover – the Real Story'.[3] The programme included secret filming of GSL employees verbally abusing and threatening inmates, and talking about using physical violence when out of sight of any CCTV cameras, for example in lifts and vans.
After the screening of the programme, GSL released a statement purporting to be 'shocked and dismayed' by its contents, eager to reassure everyone that the activities described were only carried out by a violent minority. However, this abuse had been going on for a long time, and the fact that the company does nothing about it until being exposed on national TV was hardly encouraging. Visitors to detainees confirmed that the problem was much wider than a violent minority, and were not remotely surprised by the contents of the programme.[4]
After the screening of the programme, Immigration Minister Des Browne called for an official independent investigation into the allegations made in the programme; GSL undertook an internal investigation. A further inquiry was made by prison ombudsman Stephen Shaw, due for publication in June 2005.
Notes
- ↑ Oakington immigration centre officially closes, BBC, 12 November 2010
- ↑ Refugees vanish from detention centre, BBC, 28 March 2000
- ↑ 'Probe into immigrant abuse claims', BBC, 1 March 2005
- ↑ 'Asylum abuse “is not surprising”', BBC, 2 March 2005
