Scandal-hit detention centre is panned in a new report, but the Mail implies we keep women there - or deport them
A new report has laid bare the appalling conditions for migrant women held at Yarl’s Wood detention centre in Bedfordshire, which independent inspectors called ‘a place of national concern’.
The centre hit the headlines two years ago after officials were accused of demanding sexual favours from female inmates.
Inspectors today called for ‘strict time limits’ on how long people could be held, adding:
“Decisive action is needed to ensure that women are only detained as a last resort.”
The Daily Mail, however, had a different take on the news:
Just one in three migrants held at detention centre are deported:
Only 443 were sent home in six months compared with 894 who were let on to Britain’s streets
The paper complains too few inmates were deported and too many released from the scandal-hit centre, relegating the key findings of the report to half-way down its story.
This editorial decision is all the more odd since, as the story notes, inspectors questioned whether many of the women should have been kept there in the first place!
The Mail even quotes the Home Office saying it can only hold people when there is an ‘immediate prospect of removal’ – before inviting comment from the ever-thoughtful Migration Watch.
A report exposing the dreadful conditions at a migrant detention centre? The Daily Mail implies women should either stay in there or be deported. Another triumph of compassionate conservatism!
Adam Barnett is a staff writer at Left Foot Forward. Follow MediaWatch on Twitter
DONATE to support MediaWatch here.
Read more:
Mail slams BBC Songs of Praise for filming Calais priest… then publishes his picture
Daily Mail claims ‘7 in 10 Calais migrants get into UK’ – without any evidence
Sign up for our weekly email by clicking here.
To reach hundreds of thousands of new readers and to make the biggest impact we can in the next general election, we need to grow our donor base substantially.
That's why in 2024, we are seeking to generate 150 additional regular donors to support Left Foot Forward's work.
We still need another 124 people to donate to hit the target. You can help. Donate today.
2 Responses to “Daily Mail is annoyed women were released from Yarl’s Wood ‘onto Britain’s streets’”
Paul Bateman
The Daily Mail probably think women should be locked in the kitchen unless they’re vacuuming the living room.
damon
This article by Adam Barnett is terrible imo.
Yarls Wood is subject to a campaign of frustrating the deportation process by the women in it and their supporters outside. It could be run with the best will and resources in the world and there would still be these problems and accusations. It’s like the #BlackLivesMatter movemnet in the USA for the way it creates drama and problems.
The women inside are deliberately making false accusations and harming themselves as a way of pressurising the people running it. In a way, not so different to how IRA prisoners in Northern Ireland used to put pressure on the British by creating crises in the prisons there.
Self harm, accusations of brutality etc.
How come so many of them are pregnant by the way?
It would look like they are getting pregnant as a way of defeating the deportation process.