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Serco Given Yarl's Wood IRC Contract Despite 'Vast Failings'

Categories: Articles:Asylum & Refugees | Published: 26/11/2014 | Views: 1601
The Home Office has been condemned after it renewed a private security giant's contract to run a controversial women's immigration detention centre where staff have been accused of sexual misconduct. The decision to pay £70m to Serco to operate Yarl's Wood in Bedfordshire over the next eight years was attacked by MPs, refugee groups and penal reformers.Yarl's Wood, Britain's largest detention centre for women facing deportation, has suffered a succession of damaging allegations since Serco began managing the facility in 2007. (Independent, 24 Nov)

As well as the sexual misconduct claims, they include accusations that women have been locked up for long spells and pregnant detainees held without justification. Two staff members were fired for engaging in sexual activity with a detainee, while a third was sacked for failing to act when the detainee reported the incident, it emerged last year.

Eleven months ago Serco, which also runs prisons, asylum seekers' accommodation and supervision schemes for offenders, agreed to repay about £68.5m after overcharging the Ministry of Justice for contracts to fit electronic tags.    Read more: Independent, 24.11.14

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