'Torture victims' jailed after seeking asylum in Britain
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Your support makes all the difference.The Home Office was accused yesterday of jailing torture victims who had come to Britain to claim asylum.
The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture said it knew of 11 cases in which asylum-seekers with substantiated claims of being tortured were being held in prisons. It said none of the victims had committed any offence in Britain.
The 11 victims were from Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. All had been beaten, while some had been sexually assaulted, suspended in contorted positions, suffered burning or given electric shocks.
The Medical Foundation, a charity based in London that provides specialist treatment and counselling, found that some of those tortured were being held in Britain's toughest prisons, including Belmarsh high-security jail in south London and Wandsworth prison, also in south London.
The release of the foundation's report coincided with an adjournment debate in the House of Commons over concerns that 1,144 asylum-seekers are currently jailed in Britain. It said one has been held for more than 600 days. The debate yesterday raised concerns over the treatment of asylum- seekers who had been taken from Cardiff prison in handcuffs to be tested for TB at a local hospital.
Angela Eagle, a Home Office minister, said that detention of asylum-seekers was used only "sparingly and for the shortest period necessary". She said independent medical evidence of torture was considered when deciding if someone should be detained.
But the foundation accused the Government of failing to honour its promises on the use of prisons for holding asylum-seekers. Mary Salinsky, its research officer, said the Government had pledged in the 1998 White Paper, Fairer, Faster and Firmer, that a history of torture would "weigh strongly" in deciding if an asylum- seeker was given temporary admission to Britain while their claim was considered.
Ms Salinsky said: "We see no evidence of medical documentation of torture having any impact on how long a survivor of torture is detained."
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