IAPDC expresses concern with Illegal Migration Bill’s expansion of detention

Article summary

The Chair of the Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody (IAPDC), Lynn Emslie, has written to the Home Secretary, Rt Hon Suella Braverman KC MP, to discuss the Panel’s concerns about the impact of the Illegal Migration Bill’s proposals. In the letter, Emslie has discussed the risk in expanding immigration detention powers, including the circumstances in which individuals can be detained, and related to this, the Panel’s research on the increased risk of suicide faced by those detained and the Home Office’s ability to keep individuals in detention safe. Emslie has also expressed concern that this will expand the cohort of individuals liable for detention, including unaccompanied children, pregnant women and families, and has asked the Secretary whether a full risk assessment linked to detaining this new cohort, for whom detention may not be suitable because of pre-existing health needs and/or trauma, has been undertaken.