Heathrow Independent Monitoring Board (IMB)

Heathrow Independent Monitoring Board (IMB)

At a glance

Causes

  • Counselling / advice
  • Criminal justice
  • Human rights
  • Refugees / migrants

Other details

Geographical remit: 
Local

Objectives

We aim to ensure that foreign nationals who are held at Heathrow Immigration Removal Centre are treated with  fairness and respect .We monitor the way detainees are treated and how the Centre is run. Our contacts with the management, the Home Office and the NHS enable us to affect conditions in the Centre. We are the only body that has a regular monitoring role with full access by law to detainees and information about their treatment.

Activities

Who we help
Foreign nationals who are held in immigration detention at Heathrow are treated with the fairness and respect. We report on all visits we make and follow up concerns we have. We produce an annual report for the Minister for Immigration which is published on the web.  

How we help them
We raise the individual problems faced by detainees, and broader issues of immigration detention, with the appropriate people whether that is a custody officer or the Minister for Immigration. Weekly we report what we find to the manager of the Centre, the Home Office and the NHS, we meet formally with them monthly. We make an annual report to the Minister for Immigration, stating how the Centre has met the standards and requirements placed on it and what impact these have on those held there. Our concerns include the quality of healthcare, the detention of those who are mentally ill and the length of detention. 

Why our help matters
Immigration detention is an administrative process; people are detained by immigration officers not by courts. We provide weekly oversight of the Immigration Removal Centre.

We make a difference for people who have very little power over their lives, especially those who are vulnerable. Many detainees are confused by the procedures of the immigration system and of the Centre and this is compounded when they have limited capacity to express themselves in English. By spending time listening and observing it is possible to raise detainees’ concerns.

No current opportunities

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