Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre is an

immigration detention Immigration detention is the policy of holding individuals suspected of visa violations, illegal entry or unauthorized arrival, as well as those subject to deportation and removal until a decision is made by immigration authorities to grant a vi ...

facility in

Harmondsworth Harmondsworth is a village in the London Borough of Hillingdon in the county of Greater London with a short border to the south onto Heathrow Airport, London Heathrow Airport. The village has no railway stations, but adjoins the M4 motorway and t ...

London Borough of Hillingdon The London Borough of Hillingdon () is the largest and westernmost borough in West London, England. It was formed from the districts of Hayes and Harlington, Ruislip-Northwood, Uxbridge, and Yiewsley and West Drayton in the ceremonial county ...

, near London

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

run by

Mitie Mitie Group PLC (pronounced "mighty") is a British strategic outsourcing and energy services company. It provides infrastructure consultancy, facilities management, property management, energy and healthcare services. It has a head office at The ...

. Harmondsworth, which neighbours the Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre, holds around 620 men.

Inspections

In 2006,

Anne Owers Dame Anne Elizabeth Owers, (''née'' Spark; born 23 June 1947) was Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons. Owers was the fifth holder of the post, appointed in August 2001, succeeding David Ramsbotham. Her appointment was renewed in June 2006 ...

HM Inspector of Prisons (HMIP) reported that Harmondsworth "had been allowed to slip into a culture and approach which was wholly at odds with its stated purpose" further "It is essentially a problem of management, and it is of some concern that this had not been fully identified and resolved earlier by the contractor and the

Immigration and Nationality Directorate The Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) was part of the Home Office, a department of the United Kingdom government. The department had its headquarters in Croydon, South London, where it occupied thirteen buildings. The IND was responsib ...

." In January 2008, the Chief Inspector and her team conducted an unannounced inspection and found significant improvements had been implemented since the last inspection. The Inspection of January 2008 indicated the change programme that was taking place. An extract from the executive summary of the Chief Inspector of Prisons states: ‘'All those met – both staff and detainees – recognised the change that had taken place under the new management. This was confirmed by the evidence of the inspection, which showed improvement in all of our four key areas – safety, respect, purposeful activity and resettlement – though there was still some way to go to ensure that those changes were firmly embedded and could withstand the expansion of the centre to full capacity. .We observed a different attitude and approach from staff. Security in the centre was much less intrusive, and support for detainees in the early days had improved noticeably .. Overall, this inspection recorded significant improvement in a centre that has long been of concern to us and the detention authorities. The build-up to reopening had provided space to work with staff to change the culture and approach of the centre. However, managers were aware, and this inspection confirmed, that there was still more to do before the centre expanded to full capacity. Negative staff attitudes had been effectively challenged...

Deaths and hunger-strikes

Several detainees have committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

while held in Harmondsworth. Robertas Grabys was found hanged in 2000,Detainees punished for protesting after suicide
independent race and refugee news network, 2006. Sergey Barnuyck was found hanged in 2004, and Bereket Yohannes was found hanged in 2006. An 84-year-old Canadian with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

, Alois Dvorzac, died there in January 2014. The Nigerian asylum-seeker

Ifa Muaza Isa Muazu (misspelled in some sources as ''Ifa Muaza'') is a Nigerian man who went on hunger strike while unsuccessfully attempting to claim asylum in the United Kingdom in 2013. Isa Muazu claimed to have left his home in Nigeria because members ...

went on

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

in 2013. In April 2015, over 200 detainees joined in a collective hunger-strike, which subsequently spread to

Morton Hall Immigration Removal Centre IRC Morton Hall is an Immigration Removal Centre located in the village of Morton Hall (near Lincoln) in Lincolnshire, England. The centre is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service, and was previously a women's prison. History Morton Hall was ...

.Chris Green
Harmondsworth: Asylum seekers' hunger strike spreads to second centre
''The Independent'', 7 April 2015.

References

External links

Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre
–

UK Visas and Immigration UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) is a division of the Home Office responsible for the United Kingdom's visa system. It was formed in 2013 from the section of the UK Border Agency that had administered the visa system. History The then Home Secre ...

{{Authority control Immigration detention centres and prisons in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Hillingdon Private prisons in the United Kingdom