Foreign nationals detained by Home Office won record amount of compensation last year
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FOREIGN nationals who were locked up by the Home Office won a record amount in compensation last year – often successfully suing on the basis the government was too SLOW to deport them. In the last five years a total of £53.2million has been paid in compensation to 2,222 people who brought successful cases against the Home Office for illegal detention.
![[Home Office sign.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/government-home-office-uk-965066620.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Often the claimants manage to use Human Rights legislation to help win their cases – which are being settled with average payouts of almost £25,000. The Home Office can detain people it is trying to deport but it can only keep them locked up for what lawyers state is a “reasonable period”, so if the case drags on too long they can frequently.
claim cash compensation. Lawyers, who can pick up the cases on a no-win no-fee basis, say payouts can be boosted if guards are too severe and use equipment like handcuffs. Experts say the “shock factor” of being detained means just the first day in custody can be worth as much as £1,000 to somebody who brings a successful case.
These people will have been held at immigration detention centres, which are run like jails, and are meant to be used as a holding facility before a person is either deported or allowed to legally stay in the UK. Many of the payouts were made to foreign criminals who successfully fought against a Government-backed application to deport them.
