Women in immigration-related detention suffer racist abuse from inmates
The findings are based on interviews with nine women detained in the Dóchas Centre — seven from Nigeria, one from Brazil and one from Zimbabwe — and contained in a report published recently entitled Becoming Vulnerable in Detention.
The chapter on Ireland was carried out by the Jesuit Refugee Service.
It concludes: “Ireland is clearly not a country of bad practices as relates to immigration-related detention,” but it calls on the Government to improve on its treatment of foreign nationals and asylum seekers, particularly with alternatives to detention.
It also highlights some aspects of life in detention that have negative impacts. “Detainees report having racist insults hurled at them from Irish criminal offenders that are detained within the same space.”
It also quotes from one of the interviewees: “I suffered depression in Zimbabwe, but it is worse now since I’ve been in prison.”
The report also claims that detainees express deep worry about their family, and their inability to provide support while in detention. “The hardest thing for me is being without my children,” a 29-year-old Nigerian said.
The average age of the women interviewed was 31, three were married, five had children, two of whom had their children in Ireland and who were under the jurisdiction of child services agency while in detention.
The average amount of time that the women were detained for was just over 12 days. Four were rejected asylum seekers, with three seeking asylum and two awaiting deportation.
According to the report, all but one of the interviewees described the sleeping space in the Dóchas Centre in negative terms.
They also said they had not been told of the rules of the facility.
According to the report: “A few [of the interviewees] did report that some inmates had made derogatory remarks. None complained of any mistreatment by staff. Although all reported feeling generally safe, one woman did state: ‘I’m in the midst of criminals and I feel nervous’.”
All the women said their physical and mental health had deteriorated while in detention.
The women held, like as with men in the Cloverhill facility in Dublin, are detained because they are foreign-nationals refused permission to land, are rejected asylum seekers, those awaiting final orders of deportation or awaiting trial for a criminal immigration-related offence.
The report states that between 2003 and 2007, there were 5,916 detainees, although in over half of cases the detention period was just three days.
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