FEMALE detainees were forced to mix with men with a history of sexual violence in an immigration centre due to Covid restrictions, inspectors found.

Concerns have been raised about Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre in Lanarkshire, after women had to be escorted around the site to make sure they were safe from some of the male detainees. 

The report said that before the pandemic, these men were held in a separate unit with controlled access to common parts of the centre.

But due to Covid-19, this was no longer considered possible and women had to be accompanied on site.

Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor wrote a recommendation to the Home Office, saying: “Detainees who pose risks to women should not be held in a centre with a mixed population.”

The report said that the centre’s safer detention policy had improved with regards to care of women compared to the last inspection in 2018.

But the most recent report showed the matter was “not discussed substantively,” other than stating that the centre was holding men who presented a risk to women, and that the monthly safer detention meeting was “poorly attended.”

Inspectors said that the equality policy was “underdeveloped” and there was no female detainee liaison officer.

Others were held despite the Home Office accepting that they were victims of torture, the report said.

The inspectorate did recommend “more needed to be done” to ensure that detainees had enough activity and time in the open air to support mental and physical wellbeing, including repairing the centre’s all-weather pitch to allow detainees access to outdoor sports facilities.

Social networking sites are also routinely blocked at the centre, but the report said detainees should only be prevented from accessing the sites based on an individual risk assessment.