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"Reported there. Wasn’t running."
"Reported there. Wasn’t running."
Strong Woman
Strong Woman
Lunar House, the headquarters for UK Visas & Immigration. Located in London. Many migrants report here. In 2014 it was estimated that 60,000 people were regularly reporting to their meetings.
Asylum-seekers and other immigrants claiming permanent residence in the UK are required to check in at Immigration Reporting Centres regularly. The reporting centers were designed as part of internal border control to moniter the activities of immigrants. While waiting for a verdict on their right to stay in the UK, immigrants are sent to live in a government-owned house or flat, but rarely are these in London or south-east England. This means that immigrants are often sent to live far away from their community and family while their case is decided.
In addition to housing, immigrants are given a weekly allowance of £37.75 ($51.19). They are not given cash, but rather a pre-paid card. Immigrants who report in are permitted to use the National Health Service (NHS) to access perscriptions, dental care, and other essential health tools. Children aged 5-17 are required to go to school and can sometimes get free lunches.
Immigrants have to check in at reporting centers periodically, and it differs person to person. Some have to check in every week, while others are on a monthly basis. Immigrants are told to attend their check-ins alone. They are instructed to travel light to these centres because of security (and potential detention). Immigrants often bid farewell to their community before meetings for fear of detention. Immigrants face discrimination and intimidation by government employees in their meetings. Those who are released after their meeting are subject to curfews and electronic tracking.
UK law states that asylum-seekers cannot be detained or deported if they have claimed to be a victim of torture. In practice, however, asylum-seekers with this claim are regularly detained while their case is processed.
Once a person is identified as an illegal immigrant, they are at risk of deportation from that moment on. It could happen at any time--in a few days, months, or in the indefinite future. Yarl's Wood is notorious for detaining people for months on end.
Unlike in a conventional prison, detainees do not know when they will be released. The practice of indefinite detention has motivated public protests and political conflicts alike. This practice is also unique to the UK as countries in the EU have disavowed it.
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