[REDACTED] - UNHCR

[REDACTED] - UNHCR - 20/6/2008

Present

[REDACTED] UNHCR

[REDACTED] NAO

Notes

• Detained Fast Track (DFT): If UK Borders Agency (UKBA) doesn't triage/select cases properly for detention, then you get the wrong people in detention. There is no clear guidance on what constitutes a case unsuitable for detention (e.g. complicated, vulnerable, torture victim etc). Effective mechanisms to weed out such cases are needed. But UKBA doesn't have them - examples will be in the report.

• Screening process at Screening Unit is very relevant to the later part of the process and what happens later (its like a bank, glass screens and open spaces, that makes it difficult for people to reveal details about their claim). There is no clear explanation of how this works:

o Claimants asked at screening why they are here and why cant they go home? But immigration officers are told to make sure answers are brief!

o They have heard mixed messages on how people are screened and routing decisions taken - there is no clear guidance on how cases are deemed suitable for DFT. There is no paper trail, or guidance. Just a phone call saying “suitable or not?”, with no records or minutes. UNHCR has made some recommendations on how to improve this.

o There are serious problems with pre-screening - routing wrong profiles more of a problem than detention itself.

• They did see some cases where Case Owners's (CO) did consider the suitability of case for fast track and exercise flexibility when cases are complex - normally when they were already in DFT. But no clear trail on when such flexibility criteria has been applied. They can usually only tell when it has fallen past timescales for DFT. Again, there is a lack of transparency.