Section:GDN 1N PaGe:6 Edition Date:190812 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 11/8/2019 21:00 cYanmaGentaYellowbl
- The Guardian Monday 12 Aug ust 2019
(^6) National
Inside
Beyond burgers
The push towards
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Page 25
traffi cking, said that when the Home
Offi ce tried to deport her in 2017 she
was put in a waist-restraint belt linked
to a long chain and dragged along.
Home Offi ce offi cials said a full
review of the department’s manual
on safe escorting was under way to
ensure that current techniques were
still the most eff ective.
Much of the guidance about
restraint during deportation follows
the death of Jimmy Mubenga. The
Angolan suff ered cardio-respiratory
collapse caused by restraint and an
inquest jury found that he had been
unlawfully killed , in a case revealed by
the Guardian. The technique of push-
ing his head down hard so that any
noise he made was directed toward the
fl oor was nicknamed carpet karaoke.
Home Offi ce guidance drawn up in
2016, which is still current , emphasises
the need for risk assessments to be car-
ried out before restraints are applied.
Restraint should be carried out in a
way that “preserves the dignity of the
detainee”, but elderly, infi rm and ter-
minally ill people are not exempt. A
risk assessment is meant to determine
whether restraining such people might
be “inhuman and degrading treat-
ment”. The same applies to pregnant
women and people with disabilities.
Restraint is not only an option for
those who may be violent or disruptive
but also for those with medical or men-
tal health risks, and those who have
made self-harm or suicide attempts.
The guidance states: “An escort chain
may be used when necessary. If the
escort chain is used in public it must
be kept as short as possible to make its
use inconspicuous.”
Options with a waist-restraint belt
can leave hands and arms free or
restrict their movement partially or
entirely. If deportees are not compli-
ant, belts can be applied in a kneeling
position. In certain circumstances
“ pain-compliance techniques” may
be used to assist in applying the belt.
A report by the Independent Panel
on Non-Compliance Management
assessed the risks of injury as a result
of diff erent types of restraints. Waist
and leg restraints were deemed low or
very low risk, although over tightening
leg restraints could impede circulation
and over tightening waist restraints
heightened risks for an obese person.
The report said: “The use of the
waist-restraint belt and leg restraints
together render the subject immobile.
If a person was carried in this state
there were ‘signifi cant risks’ and that
if the person was dropped the ‘conse-
quences could be catastrophic’. Use
of handcuff s poses a low risk of frac-
tures and a signifi cant risk of bruising .”
Lammy said the cases in the report
appeared “to go far beyond reasonable
and proportionate force. The ancestors
of many of those who fi nd themselves
on these fl ights were once put in chains
and shackles too. This abuse of power
is utterly shameful .”
Emma Ginn, the director of Medical
Justice, which works for health rights
for detainees, said: “Medical Justice
has been reporting on instances of
restraints during removals since 2005.
“Our independent volunteer doc-
tors who visit immigration detainees
continue to document injuries caused
by guards and inappropriate use of
restraints. ”
The Home Offi ce said: “The dignity
and welfare of all those in our care is of
the utmost importance, as is the safety
of individuals and those around them.
We keep the use of restraint during
escorted removals under review and
we look at all removals where force
is used .”
Continued from page 1
Shackles, belts and chains
approved by Home Offi ce
for use in deportations
Source: Guardian FoI request
Between April 2018 and March 2019
there were 447 cases where
restraints were used on a deportee
Number of cases each month
Apr
2018
MJ JA S O N D Jan
2019
FM
(^43464340)
38
32
49
(^3129)
37
27
32
Case study
‘Being restrained brought back all the trauma’
Najat Ibrahim Ismail, 32, an Iraqi
Kurd, was prosecuted for assisting
unlawful immigration into an EU
member state. He brought his baby
niece to the UK from a French
refugee camp in 2016 after she
suff ered serious burns. The Home
Offi ce has tried to deport him to Iraq
three times in recent months.
He was restrained with a waist
restraint belt and handcuff s during
two attempts , but he says he was
not violent. He was on the airport
runway with the escorts at the time.
Ismail has been diagnosed with
PTSD as a result of the trauma he
suff ered in Iraq, compounded by his
time in immigration detention. He is
married to a British woman and has
three young British children.
“I was sitting very still and I was
crying because I was scared about
being deported,” he said. “The
feeling you get when you’re placed
in handcuff s and the waist restraint
belt is indescribable.
“It made me feel as if I was a killer
... They put the waist restraint on
you, then they put your hands into
it and you’re chained to an escort on
the left and the right. I’m happy that
my deportations were cancelled and
that now I’m back with my wife and
kids but being restrained brought
back memories of all the trauma I
experienced before.”
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