Religious leaders attack Home Office for Britain being only European country to detain immigrants with no time limit

'There’s no fairness, compassion or common sense in locking vulnerable people up and giving them no idea of when they might see their friends and family again'

Harmondsworth Detention Centre, near Heathrow airport, is the largest in Europe (AFP/Getty)

Religious leaders join forces today to demand an end to the indefinite detention of immigrants who have been charged with no crime.

The heads of five faiths have issued a blistering statement aimed at Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, pointing out that Britain is the only European country to hold people without oversight by a judge – and with no release date.

They are calling for the introduction of a strict 28-day limit when a new immigration bill is put before Parliament, to ease the mental harm suffered by people who can be detained for years.

The Independent revealed, last month, that Theresa May is already facing a Conservative revolt over the controversy, with two former cabinet ministers ready to vote to scrap the practice.

Canon Mark Oakley, the Chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral, said: “There’s no fairness, compassion or common sense in locking vulnerable people up and giving them no idea of when they might see their friends and family again.

And Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner, Senior Rabbi to the Movement for Reform Judaism, said: “Locking up nearly 30,000 men, women and children indefinitely every year is unjust and counterproductive. I urge the Home Secretary to place a time limit on immigration detention.”

Meanwhile, Sanjay Jagatia, director of Hindu Council UK, said indefinite detention was “a black hole at the heart of British justice and we must stand together to end it”.

Dr Muhammad Adrees, convenor of the Muslim Council of Scotland, said: “We must continue to fulfil our moral duty to help those who are fleeing, in some cases, unspeakable horrors and atrocities.”

And Bhai Amrik Singh, chair of the Sikh Federation (UK), said: “There is evidence this cruel and inhumane practice is causing harm and tearing families apart.”

Campaigners believe a looming immigration bill, to introduce post-Brexit rules, will provide an opportunity for MPs to pass an amendment to impose a 28-day limit.

Almost 30,000 people are detained each year in the centres, with several hundred held for longer than one year. One was held for more than four years.

Survivors of torture, trafficking and rape are among those held in overcrowded conditions, where a recent investigation uncovered “widespread self-harm and attempted suicides”.

The Home Office has paid £21.2m to migrants it unlawfully detained over the past five years, laying bare its “chaotic decisions” it was alleged.

Half of immigrants leaving detention centres end up being released into the community – rather than deported – where monitoring them costs 80 per cent less, critics say.

A previous attempt to end indefinite detention failed two years ago – but, since then, the Conservatives have lost their Commons majority, making the Government vulnerable to revolts.

Two MPs from the Democratic Unionist Party, which is propping up Ms May in power, have also backed a 28-day limit.

The statement, signed by a total of 11 religious leaders, says the practice “causes huge harm – not only to those detained, but to their family, children, friends and community”.

It reads: “The time to act is now. We urge the Government to put some fairness, decency and due process into our immigration system and urgently put a 28-day time limit on detention.”