Facts & Figures

One of the main justifications for detention is that unsuccessful asylum seekers and foreign nationals would otherwise ‘disappear’ – or abscond in legal terms – and deliberately lose contact with the authorities. However, the Home Office has no figures on the proportion of people released from detention who then go on to abscond or fail to comply with reporting conditions[1]. A longitudinal study of bailed asylum seekers by South Bank University showed that detention is often unnecessary to ensure that people remain in contact with the immigration authorities. Researchers used BID’s records to trace 98 asylum detainees who were bailed between July 2000 and October 2001. The research shows that only 10% of asylum seekers bailed after a period of detention failed to comply with their bail requirements, even though a proportion of those released were due for removal from the UK and were subsequently removed[2].

[1] Christine Bacon, (2005), “The Evolution of Immigration Detention in the UK: The Involvement of Private Prison Companies”. RSC Working Paper 27, Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford.

[2] Bruegel, I. & E. Natamba, (2002), “Maintaining contact: what happens after detained asylum seekers get bail”, Social Science Research Papers, South Bank University. Available at http://www.biduk.org/pdf/res_reports/main_contact.pdf