At Gatwick immigration removal centres, safety is still being undermined by safeguarding failures

The Gatwick Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) found yet again in its 2025 annual report (published 2 September 2026) that key safeguards are inadequate to prevent vulnerable people from being detained or, once identified, to secure their rapid release. This has been compounded by the implementation of ‘Operation Hillmore,’ a pilot ‘one in one out’ scheme under which individuals crossing the channel are detained for removal to France.

The Board notes that:

• Under this scheme the Home Office has detained a disturbingly high number of children, as well as highly vulnerable victims of trafficking and torture.
• The slow approval of bail addresses and lack of responsiveness of probation services persisted across the year, creating substantial delays in the release of men who have been granted bail by the courts.
• Men often reported feeling unsafe in the centre, which is perhaps unsurprising given that rates of self-harm increased again in 2025.
• There are serious concerns about the quality and timeliness of both physical and mental healthcare. Additionally, the Board considers the use of handcuffs in 97% of medical escorts unfair and stigmatising.
• Men are locked up for approximately 12 hours a day, meaning they have to make difficult choices between progressing their cases, accessing medical care, visiting with family and friends, or engaging in leisure activities.

However, there were some improvements at Gatwick IRC in 2025, notably a slight reduction in the use of force, although the total number of incidents remains high, and the welcome refurbishment of residential wings at Brook House.

Gatwick IMB Chair, David Skinner, said:

“The Board is very concerned about the failure of safeguards to prevent children and highly vulnerable men from being detained. We are also concerned that some practices undermine detained people’s dignity and rights. For example, men continued to be handcuffed on almost all medical escorts, an experience they find humiliating and degrading, and lock-up times – at nearly 12 hours a day – are far too long. This raises serious concerns about the safety of men detained at Gatwick immigration removal centres.”