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Podcast on Brook House.

Produced by Cameron, Twiggy and Lucia in 2023.

 

Research findings on Brook House

Edited by TJ, Jack, and Matt in January 2022, and by Becca in 2023.

We set out to gather sources on Brook house detention centre and the refugees/migrants it holds. We managed to find several reliable sources online speaking about the abuses that happen in Brook house. In our findings we found; official reports, inquiries that investigate the abuse allegations and news articles that feature interviews with ex detainees. We struggled to find full length interviews with ex detainees, but we believe the gap this causes shows us the lack of communication available to detainees and the length of time that detainees can find themselves in this ‘temporary’ detention centre.

We believe that because of the lack of personal journals and other personal accounts from the point of view of the prisoners the people in Brook house are being detained for far longer than the official reports (see below) are stating and with the limited information trickling out, we are able to piece together the stories and abuses of those detained. The fact that a public inquiry failed was only launched 4 years after Panorama had documented these abuses, shows to us the lack of transparency that G4 and the Home Office have been operating with in regards to detention centres like Brook house.

 

The role of G4S and Serco

The name G4S will pop up a few times in articles attached to this page so for a bit of background, G4S used to own Brook House and were in ownership of the institution when the BBC Documentary on its abusive behaviours was released. G4S is a British multinational private security company headquartered in London, England. The company was set up in 2004. G4S stands for Group 4 Securicor. Securicor plc was its own business and  was one of the United Kingdom’s largest security businesses. It then merged in 2004 to form G4S. So G4S is essentially a very wealthy security company. The G4S however no longer owns Brook House and ownership has now passed onto Serco. Serco Group plc is a British multinational defence, justice & immigration, transport, health, and citizen services company. It is headquarted in Hook, Hampshire, England.

 

 

The documentary shows G4S detention officers verbally and physically abusing people detained at Brook House IRC. Staff are shown using racial slurs, mocking detainees, and bragging about hurting them.’

However, even with evidence presented as clearly as in this documentary things didn’t change for the better. See below a quote from the Ofsted report made following the documentary in 2019.

“We found no evidence that the abusive culture shown by the Panorama programme was present among the current staff group at Brook House. On the contrary, our detainee survey and interviews found that most detainees were positive about the way they were treated by staff. We found improved training of staff employed in the centre, whistleblowing procedures that staff members had confidence in, and a much-improved ratio of staff numbers to detainees.” 

If you want to read more into this inspection the link is below.  https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/09/Brook-House-web-2019.pdf

There is hope as people who worked for Brook House tell their unsettling stories to the world we hope this sparks change, these whistle blowers are essential for trying to change these institutions as they are the voice for the detained who are, essentially, voiceless.

One article in particular was that of a former officer at Brook house. ‘Tulley described witnessing a group of G4S staff taunting a naked detainee in his solitary confinement cell, as they attempted to move him to a van before a planned deportation. “They were laughing at him, making comments about his body, about his penis,” Tulley said. “He was completely humiliated, just clearly distressed. It was shocking to see it.” ‘

For more of this article see the link below. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/nov/29/whistleblower-gives-evidence-at-brook-house-inquiry

 

More Sources

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2019-11-05/HCWS99 – statement by Priti Patel

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-59533029 – Ex-Detainee being attacked in Brookhouse

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/self-harm-detention-brook-house-asylum-seekers-b1668406.html – Self-Harm increases in Brookhouse

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/dec/07/guard-tells-of-racist-culture-at-g4s-gatwick-immigration-removal-centre-brook-house – Brookhouse toxic and racist culture after 2017 report

https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2021-11-23/inquiry-begins-into-allegations-of-abuse-at-uk-immigration-centre-brook-house – New inquiry into Brookhouse allegation

https://brookhouseinquiry.org.uk/ – inquiry official website