Immigrants suspected of being here illegally should be served more ‘culturally diverse’ food, a removal centre has been told.
Caterers face claims that meals at Yarl’s Wood, where suspected illegal immigrants are held supposedly pending deportation, are ‘too Western’ for detainees’ tastebuds.
Inspectors said inmates had complained that lunch at the £100 million centre usually consisted of baguettes and salad.
Only one in seven detainees thought the food was good compared to one in four in 2015, according to the prisons watchdog.
Caterers face claims that meals at Yarl’s Wood, where suspected illegal immigrants are held supposedly pending deportation, are ‘too Western’ for detainees’ tastebuds
Now private firm Serco, which runs the centre in Bedfordshire, has been told to improve its menus. Yarl’s Wood is home to just over 300 detainees, mainly women, from 61 countries. Most inmates are from India, China or nations in Africa.
A report by Peter Clarke, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, said: ‘The food that we sampled was adequate, but most dishes comprised Western-style food and the menu lacked cultural diversity. The lunchtime meal consisted largely of baguettes or salad. There was very little in any of the menus to reflect the normal diets of, for example, Chinese or African women.’
Food should be suited to the ‘religious and cultural needs’ of detainees, said the report for HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP). Menus should ‘reflect the diverse needs of the population’.
However, managers were praised for preparing meals suitable for vegetarians, vegans and those with halal diets. Detainees also had access to kitchens where they could cook their own food.
Tory MP Philip Davies said: ‘These are people who should not be in the country in the first place, so they should be grateful that they are being looked after so well. That wouldn’t be the case in lots of other countries.’
Previous reports on the centre, which opened in 2001, have found that food was not good enough.
In its 2015 report on Yarl’s Wood, the Independent Monitoring Board – a watchdog that checks conditions inside prisons and removal centres – criticised bosses for dishing up too many pizzas, chips and baguettes.
Despite activists dubbing Yarl’s Wood a ‘prison camp’, HMIP praised staff in the latest report for providing yoga and aerobics classes for women. Detainees were also given mobile phones so they could contact family and lawyers.
Some of those held at the centre will be sent home. However, others will be granted permission to remain in the UK or bailed. A Home Office spokesman said: ‘Detention and removal are essential parts of effective immigration controls. It is vital these are carried out with dignity and respect and we take the welfare of our detainees very seriously.
‘We are taking action to address the recommendations.’
Earlier this year, it was revealed that suspected illegal immigrants at Morton Hall in Lincolnshire were offered courses on how to make to be bartenders specialising in alcohol-free fruit cocktails known as ‘mocktails’.
Also on offer were short courses including how to fold napkins in restaurants, window-cleaning, training to be a barista and classes in hotel housekeeping.
The courses, which pay the detainees £1 an hour, are intended to make sure they have skills to secure jobs when they return to their homeland.
It has been estimated that a place at a removal centre costs £30,000 a year.
Chaos returns to Calais as five shot
Five Afghan migrants were wounded in a gunfight between people smuggling gangs in Calais.
It came just hours before French police opened fire on a car full of migrants after it crashed through a roadblock in a bid to reach Britain.
The incidents took place as the port descends further into chaos as increasing numbers are trying to sneak across the Channel.
Fighting breaks out among migrants at Calais. In October last year, the squalid Jungle camp at Calais was razed and 8,000 people were relocated across France
Smugglers charge as much as £13,000 to bring a migrant to Britain and the trade means rival gangs resort to violence to settle turf wars.
Gunshots were exchanged between the groups at about 6pm on Saturday near the Secours Catholique charity on the outskirts of Calais.
Three migrants were treated in a Calais hospital and a fourth, who was more seriously injured, was taken to a hospital in Lille. A fifth was treated at the scene. A local police source said it was common for rival groups to fall out over smuggling routes. The source added: ‘It is likely that smugglers were involved in this gunfight.’
Soon after, a car holding nine migrants crashed into a roadblock, injuring a riot police officer.
A local government source said people smugglers were among the six Iraqis and three Afghans arrested.
The chaos comes after it was revealed Britain may give tens of millions of pounds extra to France to ramp up security. Since 2015 the UK has handed over £124 million.
In October last year, the squalid Jungle camp at Calais was razed and 8,000 people were relocated across France. But hundreds have since returned to the area.