Prison officers 'call you ape, call you monkey': Foreign nationals victims of racial abuse in jail

A Nigerian prisoner revealed prison staff ‘treat you like, you know, like something wrong with our skin’.

Forming relationships with prison staff and fellow inmates is challenging for some foreign national prisoners because of racial prejudice, language barriers, and segregation based on nationality, according to a new report.

Researchers from the School of Law and Criminology at Maynooth University interviewed 82 foreign nationals who were in eight prisons across the State.

While the study concluded Ireland’s relatively recent history of immigration had spared its prison system from entrenched racism, it found some foreign national prisoners experienced difficulties from fellow prisoners and some staff.

The report noted: “Almost half of the participants reported they had been subjected to racism and discrimination by staff.” 

It added: “One Brazilian participant, for instance, revealed the officers ‘call you ape, call you monkey, fucking foreigners’, while a Nigerian prisoner revealed prison staff ‘treat you like, you know, like something wrong with our skin’."

It follows a report published in 2022 by a team from Maynooth University for the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT), which found foreign national and minority ethnic communities are over represented in the Irish penal system and their rights and needs are often overlooked.

A spokesman for the Irish Prison Service said the body set high standards for its staff.

He added: “Any act of racist abuse is considered a criminal matter and any staff or prisoner who believes they have been the victim of such an act should report it to An Garda Síochána. 

"All prisoners have the right to make a complaint at any time and all complaints are treated with the utmost seriousness.”