Complaints against illegal immigrants removal centres increase in UK

Of all the complaints, half of them were registered at Brook House, a conviction centre for foreign criminals facing deportation.

After the death of Jimmy Mubenga, a detainee from Angola, G4S came under suspicion. G4S is one of the largest companies running the government services.

Mubenga had died after being restrained by three guards.

Complaints received by G4S
Last year, as many as 773 complaints were received from the detained immigrants. Among all the complaints received, 640 were found having no proof, while 130 were filed with proof.

The major issues in the complaints concerned assault, racism, or quality of services.

According to G4S, “It took all complaints 'seriously' but that the ones substantiated were 'extremely low' and of a minor nature.”

When questioned regarding the death of Jimmy Mubenga, a spokesman from G4S said, “Anyone detained within our immigration facilities is given every opportunity to raise concerns about either the treatment they receive from our staff or the services we provide.”

“The level of substantiated complaints against our employees over the last three years, at 25, is extremely low and of a minor nature, albeit we take each one very seriously.”

According to David Wood, head of Criminality and Detention at the UK Border Agency, “The way that complaints are processed and recorded has been made simpler in recent years, which has led to a rise in recording.”