The unfair measure

Detention of migrants in the centres of 23 European countries causes “damage to physical and mental health”, especially among the most vulnerable groups, such as women and children. Asylum seekers and illegal immigrants suffer from “anxiety, depression, weight loss, sleeplessness” due to the psycho-physical stress of being deprived of freedom “without having committed any crime”, being inactive, without external contacts, in unsafe hygienic conditions, uncertain about the future. 80% of asylum seekers do not know when they may leave such centres. Many compare their detention centres to a “prison”, and physical and verbal abuse has been reported in many of these centres. This is briefly what has been found out by a 400-page survey conducted by the Brussels-based Jesuit Refugee Service-Europe, which involved non-governmental organisations of 23 European countries. Italy gave its contribution through Centro Astalli, but no migrants were interviewed either in Italy or in the United Kingdom (which banned any surveys in their centres). The “Becoming vulnerable during detention” project, presented in Brussels the 8th June, is co-funded by the European Commission through the European Refugee Fund.Longer detention, worse health. The survey found that “the longer the detention, the worse the migrants’ condition”. The average length of detention is about 3 months, but it may be anywhere between 1 day and 31 months. Many migrants – the survey states – complain of the state of such centres: toilets and showers are “dirty, food is unhygienic and poor quality, they are “overcrowded”. The rules in force in such centres (set meal times, set recreation times, nightly curfews) make the migrants feel “as if they were in prison”, in a state of great “isolation and inactivity”. “Physical abuse has been reported in three quarters of European countries – the Survey denounces – and verbal abuse has been reported in 19 member states. Children, women aged 18 to 24 and asylum seekers state they have been victims of physical and verbal abuse”. Poor health care. Even health care is rated as poor: “there are no specialists, such as psychologists, gynaecologists and dentists. 87% say they received no psychological treatment” and 90% of women aged 18 to 24 asks for better health care. “Physical health – the Survey points out – worsens with time spent in such detention centres”: 72% of people held there for 4 to 5 months complain of health problems. Most disorders are mental, and many say they are “shocked”, “scared” and “depressed”: 71% of migrants spending 4 to 5 months in these centres suffer from psychological disorders. Conflicts also break out there, because of cultural differences and communication problems when speaking different languages. 80% of asylum seekers receive no visits from their family or friends. Recommendations to the member States. The European Jesuit Fathers’ survey ends with the statement that “the human cost of detention is too high”, so “it should only be used as a last resort”. That’s why they suggest a number of recommendations to the European decision-makers and the member states: they ask that “asylum seekers should not be held in these centres during the procedure”; that, for asylum seekers, “they take alternative measures to detention which respect their human dignity and fundamental rights”; that they implement a system to understand the needs of asylum seekers and the most vulnerable groups “in the places of entry” (land, sea or air); and, if detention cannot be avoided, “that it is used for the shortest possible time”, with the “support of legal advice and/or other assistance since the first day of detention”. In addition, they ask that asylum seekers be given “all the information they need in writing and verbally, in the language they understand, to submit the asylum application” and the option to engage in “physical and intellectual activities”, “to have contacts with the external world” and “appropriate health care, including psychological support”. For a full text of the survey, visit: www.jrseurope.org.