Revealed: Thousands of migrants held at UK-run French detention centres ‘shrouded in secrecy’

Exclusive: New data sheds light on four opaque detention sites in France that are run by the UK. Migrants attempting to make their way to Britain were held at UK-run detention sites in France more than 9,000 times last year, “alarming” new figures show. Data obtained through freedom of information laws shows there were 9,139 detentions at the short-term holding facilities near Calais and Dunkirk from July 2023 to June 2024.

The four sites – Calais tourist, Coquelles freight, Coquelles tourist, and Dunkirk – are run by the UK Border Force together with contractor Mitie Care and Custody. They house people who have travelled on coaches and cars to French ferry ports, or people found hidden in commercial lorries. People who are stopped can be held at the sites for no more than 24 hours, after which they must be allowed to continue their journey to the UK or be handed over to French police.

The sites have been described as “legal and procedural grey zones” with “a lack of clarity, transparency and, potentially, adherence to domestic and international human rights obligations” by non-profit network the Detention Forum. Steve Smith, CEO of refugee charity Care4Calais, said details about the sites have been “shrouded in secrecy”, adding: “Only now are we starting to learn the true scale of detentions taking place”.

He added: “These detentions are happening without accountability. It is unclear under what jurisdiction thousands of people are being detained at the UK-France border, how long they are being detained, under what conditions, and what is happening with their fingerprints and personal information.” Mr Smith urged the government to “come clean about the hostile environment they are funding in France”.

Separate figures for July 2022 to June 2023 show 6,915 people had been detained at the sites during this period - an average of 576 people a month. This is different to the number of detentions recorded, as some people can be detained multiple times. Independent organisations have accused the Home Office of a “deeply concerning lack of transparency” because data on the detentions at these four sites is not published as part of the government’s official statistics. While the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) has been looking at the sites over the past few years, their findings have not been made public.

Maddie Harris, director of the Humans for Rights Network, said: “It appears these figures are not included [in official statistics] in order to minimise scrutiny and oversight regarding how these facilities are operated and who is held there”. She said migrants often “don’t even know who is detaining them”, adding this was “a clear breach of the most basic of practice in relation to detention".

Late last year, the organisation visited northern France and collected testimonies from people who had experienced detention at the sites. Many they spoke to said it was not clear why they had been detained and sometimes described not having been given any paperwork relating to their detention. People who are taken to the sites are meant to have paperwork given to them by the Border Force explaining they have been removed as they were attempting to enter the UK illegally. They have their details taken and fingerprints processed and are then released, charity workers said.

Inspectors have previously raised concerns regarding safeguarding at the sites. In May last year, it emerged the Home Office held no information on the number of safeguarding referrals that Border Force had made to UK authorities for vulnerable detainees at the sites. The Home Office also admitted it did not know how many Border Force officers working at the facilities were trained in safeguarding and modern slavery (Sams).

A 2019 inspection of the sites by chief inspector of prisons found “serious concerns” with the way the facilities were run, such as detainees having very limited access to legal advice and interpreting services, and there being no on-site medical care. During the inspection, staff met a 17-year-old boy who was being detained from a lorry and had an old gunshot injury. Despite him appearing unwell, neither Border Force nor Mitie Care and Custody staff called for medical attention.

“The boy was not treated in accordance with either Mitie Care and Custody or Border Force child safeguarding policy, and Border Force staff were insensitive in their interactions with him,” the report stated. Jon Featonby, chief policy analyst at the Refugee Council, said: “Many of those detained, including separated children and other vulnerable people, are likely to have fled war and persecution and should be cared for instead of being locked up.”.