at meeting in Parliament, chaired by Baroness Sally Hamwee.
We heard from Jerome Phelps, director of Detention Action about the problems experienced by migrants who could not return to their own country, for numerous reasons that were no fault of their own, but who could not have leave to remain either. He pointed out that the UK was the only country in Europe to have indefinite detention and we had the second largest detention estate (to which 600 beds at The Verne prison were to be added this summer). He said we should have a maximum length of detention for immigration purposes, and 42 days was the maximum in some countries. He pointed out that there is no proper scrutiny of the way our detention estate is run nor of how much it actually costs.
spoke so knowledgeably about the need for positive proposals for the right to liberty, automatic bail hearings, detention only to be authorised by an approved person at an appropriate level. We had this in place in 1999 when a section was put into the Immigration and Asylum Bill but it was never implemented and was repealed in 2002.
There were incisive points and questions from a number of Lib Dem Peers, and Lord Roger Roberts told us of the amendments he was putting to the Immigration Bill around these issues. Others, including Sarah Teather are putting down good amendments too, and we hope they will be given time to be taken and dealt with fully.
There has been no outcry about all of this, but now that those brave people have spoken out, real stories published in the report, and they have been listened to by Parliamentarians, let us hope, and campaign for, an end to this useless waste of lives and money.