Child refugee with gunshot wound detained on French border amid ‘serious concerns’ about treatment of youngsters trying to reach UK

The Home Office has been criticised after a child refugee with a gunshot wound was detained by UK border officials on the French coast.

A report by the Prison Inspectorate raises "serious concern" about safeguarding and the legality of detention in a number of short-term holding facilities in northern France through which UK Border Force identifies clandestine travellers before they leave French territory.

Charities working with displaced people in the area have seen more detention places open in recent months and are concerned about the "deeply problematic" practice of detaining minors under the age of 18.

The new report raises concern that this practice may in some cases be illegal and lead to failure to safeguard vulnerable children.

In one incident highlighted by the inspector, a 17-year-old boy was detected in the back of a lorry with 10 Iraqi men and held at the Coquelles freight facility, which holds people who have been found hidden in commercial vehicles in the freight lanes.

While still in the freight shed, it emerged that he had a gunshot injury, sustained one or two months previously, and that another cousin had been shot dead. His leg was swollen and heavily bandaged, and he appeared to be in considerable discomfort.

The Inspector said Border Force took no safeguarding action to ensure that the child’s best interests were considered, and neither they nor staff from Mitie Care and Custody — which is contracted to run the facility — initially called for medical attention. He was later referred to the police and released the next day. Border Force had no note of the boy’s name.

The report raised concerns that neither Mitie Care and Custody nor Border Force kept adequate records of children in their care, as there was no record of detainees held on vehicles — some of whom it said were very likely to have been children.

“We had serious concerns about adult safeguarding practices […] The safeguarding and modern slavery trained officer we spoke to had poor awareness of safeguarding issues; for example, the officer had not heard of the National Referral Mechanism, used in the UK to identify, protect and support victims of trafficking,” said inspectors.

In the same report, inspectors raised alarm about the lengthy detention of children at Coquelles Tourist, which holds those who have been refused entry to the UK or are being questioned by Border Force officers.

Fifty-seven children had been held in the previous three months for an average of four hours four minutes, with the longest single period of detention for an unaccompanied child being eight hours 31 minutes.

The report recommended all children should be interviewed by safeguarding and modern slavery trained officers, so that safeguarding concerns could be identified and acted on promptly, with referrals made to the French police where necessary.

Inspectors noted that all four short-term detention facilities in the area had improved since the last inspection in July 2016, but that of nine recommendations made then, just one had been achieved.

Josh Man-Saif, field manager for Help Refugees, based in Calais, said an increasing number of displaced people were being detained in the area, especially during daily evictions of people's living spaces.

"We are aware of the opening of more detention places in recent months. This is as well as the deeply problematic arrest and detention of minors under the age of 18," he added.

"Our partners on the ground working in child protection have reported that minors are waiting very long periods of time, and even those that aren't officially detained, are left waiting in police stations for hours, while they try to access protection services. A minor reported not being allowed to go to the toilet as he waited for hours.

"Often people are released in the middle of the night, their only option, to go back to the makeshift camp areas, where their shelter and possessions will most likely have been confiscated."

Catherine Baker, senior campaigns officer at ECPAT UK, said: "The report sheds light on significant failures to safeguard children at the border, who shouldn’t be put in these appalling situations to start with and ultimately left with no one looking out for their best interests.

"Children should always be safeguarded first and foremost. There must be safe, legal routes for all children in migration, who are at risk of exploitation, to enter the UK.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Detention is a vital part of our immigration system and it is crucial that it is carried out with dignity and respect.

“While we welcome the positive comments the inspectors made about the short term detention facilities, we take the criticisms seriously and recognise that improvements need to be made. We are taking steps to implement the recommendations where possible.”

A Mitie spokesperson said: “It’s positive to see the report acknowledge the improvements that have been made to the service and the importance our employees place on ensuring all detainees are treated in a sensitive manner. However, we appreciate there are still areas for us to work on.

“Following this inspection, we promptly implemented the recommendations of the report, including strengthening our safeguarding procedures. A subsequent independent investigation found that immediate improvements had been made to address the findings of the report.”