Migrant dies at immigration centre
Migrant dies at immigration centre that is set to be shut down and turned into a prison
- Death took place at the Morton Hall immigration removal centre in Lincolnshire
- Home Office offered condolences to the family but no details were confirmed
- Centre is expected to close and again become a Category C prison this year
An investigation has been launched after a migrant died at an immigration centre that is set to be shut down and turned back into a prison.
The death took place at the Morton Hall immigration removal centre in Swinderby, Lincolnshire, which can hold 392 people and is run by the prison service for the Home Office.
Detention Action, a charity which supports those in immigration detention, claimed the incident has left other detainees ‘very distressed’.
It said: ‘We are very sad to hear reports of a death in Morton Hall IRC. Our thoughts are with all the loved ones of the person in question.
‘Many of our clients are understandably very distressed and we are providing as much support as possible to anyone affected.’
The death took place at the Morton Hall immigration removal centre in Swinderby, Lincolnshire, which can hold 392 people and is run by the prison service for the Home Office
No details of the death have yet been confirmed.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘Our thoughts and condolences are with the individual’s family and friends.
‘Any death in detention is subject to investigation by the police, coroner and independent Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.
‘It would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.’
The death isn’t the first to occur at the controversial immigration centre, after four detainees died on the unpopular site in the year to November 2017.
A 27-year-old Iraqi man was thought to have killed himself at Morton Hall in November, and Carlington Spencer, 38, from Jamaica, died a few weeks earlier.
In January 2017, Lukasz Debowski, from Poland, died at the site and Bal Ahmed Kabia, from Sierra Leone, passed away during the previous December.
Detention Action, a charity which supports those in immigration detention, claimed the incident has left other detainees ‘very distressed’
Morton Hall is currently run by service-level agreement between the UK Border Agency and HM Prison Service, with 24-hour medical facilities.
The immigration removal site, which houses male detainees, is expected to revert to being a Category C prison later this year.
It had previously acted as a detention centre for female inmates between 1985 and 2011.
A Detention Action client named Alex who was being held at Morton Hall said: ‘It’s a good thing it’s being closed. In this place people live with extremely bad mental health issues.
‘No matter the level of punishment – whether you’re being deported or not – the way they hold people for so long with no idea when they’ll be released destroys people’s mental health. Until you don’t feel human anymore’.
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