Foreign Nationals in Prison

Her Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS);

Commissioned a community migrant organisation to design & maintain an electronic resettlement toolkit, called “‘Tracks’, a resource for the resettlement of foreign prisoners (FP)”.  It is designed to help FPs as well as prison, probation and other professionals working with foreign prisoners to plan for resettlement upon release either in the UK or on prison transfer or expulsion abroad. It contains information in a variety of languages, on the immigration process, resettlement options as well as country specific information packs. ’Tracks’ is designed so that FPs know what may happen to them and what they can do themselves to plan for and improve their resettlement options on sentence completion.

National Initiative; HMPPS project centrally commissioned
Discretionary implementation. Development & maintenance costs from HMPPS centre.
Adrian.Chen@noms.gsi.gov.uk

Home Office Immigration Enforcement (HOIE) Prison Operational Removal Team (PORT) staff are based in the two Foreign National-Only ‘Hub prisons’, and for parts of the week in  ‘Spoke prisons’, where Foreign National Offenders (FNO) are held, to work with offender management and the FNOs in order to explain processes, try and give reassurances, and act as the conduit between the CC case owner and the FNO.  The two FNO prisons are in the process at looking at what effective resettlement plans can be put in place for their populations, including looking at skill gaps back in their home countries etc.

National
National policy Cost savings having PORT staff present in the hub and spoke prisons
Graham.Wilkinson3@noms.gsi.gov.uk

Pilot Project for foreign inmates in Kongsvinger (Foreign prisoner only) prison from 2016 –‘Planning For Resettlement’..

Background to project initiation;

• The law is for everyone:

what can be done for foreign inmates?

• A need for services aimed specifically at foreign inmates. Is there something we already have?
• Work as a” return adviser” in 2015 caused the further development of an idea
• A need for an increased activity-level at Kongsvinger prison, supported by the management
• It needs to be about reintegration

The Pilot Project’s goal was ‘To provide foreign inmates with further knowledge, insight and tools that can contribute to a better reintegration, independent of the destination after release’.

• Target group – foreign inmates
• Criteria for participation in the pilot project:
  • Inmate does not participate in work, education or any other activity
  • A remaining sentence duration of at least two weeks from starting the group
  • Basic knowledge of the English language

The selection criteria were expanded to also include those who were active in work or education but wanted to participate after hearing from others about the groups. The groups of 3 to four prisoners ran for 10 sessions, were run in English and comprised groups of multi-national prisoners.

Specific to Kongsvinger (Foreign National-only) Prison
Pilot Project at Kongsvinger Prison Cost not known
Gerhard.Ploeg@kriminalomsorg.no

Program initiation in the Romanian language and cultural orientation. The program is sustained over a period for 3 months by educator in Romanian language

National
No additional financial resources required
andreea.cana@anp.gov.ro

note, this refers to immigration detainees

Immigration Detention Centres;
See also above under 5.15.1 (admission)

National
National budget (Immigration)
Geert Verbauwhede geert.verbauwhede@ibz.fgov.be Maryvonne Jacquemin – maryvonne.jacquemin@ibz.fgov.be

International: Red Cross/Red Crescent, The worldwide ‘Family Links’ network of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, which includes the International Committee of the Red Cross (hereafter ICRC) as well as Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies (hereafter National Societies), has longstanding experience and expertise in restoring family links between family members separated (because, for instance, of conflict or migration). Practically, the National Societies or ICRC Delegation in one country can help people to restore and maintain contact with family members in another country through, for instance, the use of Red Cross messages. They can also help detainees to look for family members with whom they have lost contact and whose whereabouts are unknown.

Examples: a) a foreign prisoner cannot call his/her family because in his/her country of origin normal means of communication (telephone lines, postal system, etc.) are disrupted or unavailable. The prison authorities can ask the National Society to send a volunteer to the prison who will take a Red Cross message which will be distributed to the family in the country of origin through the National Society there or the ICRC Delegation; b) a foreign prisoner has lost contact with family members and does not know where they are (reasons can be multiple, migration, conflict, disasters, etc.). The prison authorities can aks the National Society to send a volunteer to take a tracing request. Such request will enable the National Society to start a search of the relative sought in cooperation with other National Societies or ICRC Delegations. For more information: https://familylinks.icrc.org

Furthermore, the National Societies can also help collecting and transmitting official administrative documents which will be transmitted to the foreign prisoner for the latter to exercise his rights (ex. birth certificates, divorce papers, inheritance documents, power of attorney, etc.).

International
No budget required (exceptionally postal fees)
Contact the Red Cross or Red Crescent National Society – Department for Restoring Family Link (RFL), or ICRC Delegation All available international contacts can be found at: https://familylinks.icrc.org

note, this refers to immigration detainees

Immigration Detention Centres

See also above under 5.15.1 (admission)

National
National budget (Immigration)
Verbauwhede – geert.verbauwhede@ibz.fgov.be + Maryvonne Jacquemin – maryvonne.jacquemin@ibz.fgov.be

Hibiscus Initiatives; International Resettlement & Support Services for foreign prisoners being expelled and released into community.  Hibiscus Initiatives is a voluntary sector organisation with a track record of delivering high-quality services for over 30 years. They have developed a widely acknowledged specialist expertise in working with foreign national and black, minority ethnic and refugee individuals in custody, in detention and the community.

Their work falls into 4 areas: prisons, community, international resettlement and human trafficking.

Their person-centred approach engages the clients, supporting and empowering them in dealing with their multiple and often complex needs and, importantly, addresses the disadvantage that language and cultural barriers present. In addition to being a lifeline for their clients, their work is widely respected by prison, probation and immigration staff.

Their specialist expertise in international reintegration and resettlement, and supporting migrant offenders and those at risk of offending, places Hibiscus Initiatives as one of the leading organisations supporting foreign nationals and BMER groups and individuals involved in the UK criminal justice system and indeed in Europe.

They work with over 1,000 clients from over 119 countries, providing: welfare, advice, advocacy, volunteering and mentoring in prisons

reintegration assistance and practical and emotional support for people in detention and those released from Immigration Removal Centres, community resettlement support for ex-offenders identification of potential victims of trafficking and awareness-raising on the risks of being trafficked to the UK.

They also aim to educate and influence policy makers and the public about the experiences of their clients.

http://hibiscusinitiatives.org.uk/

‘Safe Way Home’ is a Salvation Army chaplaincy programme in Norway. It receives funding from the Norwegian government, has an agreement with the Immigration Police and uses it’s international network of volunteers in 120 countries to support prisoners after release and deportation to their home country.

Further information from http://www.frelsesarmeen.no/ or Norwegian lead Yury.Zelentsov@frelsesarmeen.no

The program consists in assisting foreign detainees in launching micro-economic initiatives in their countries of origin during their time in detention; this is done by establishing contact with local social services that can assist the person locally and follow-up their project after release. The initiative is implemented in partnership with the Swiss branch of the International Social Service (ISS) as part of their program “reintegration in the country of origin” https://www.ssi-suisse.org/en/node/49 . The individual projects are implemented locally through the ISS worldwide network. The main steps are the following:

1. The detainee submits his request (description of the project, business plan etc.) to the prison social worker.
2. The request is forwarded by the social worker to the ISS for a preliminary evaluation (motivation, criteria, budget etc.)
3. The ISS contacts the local partner abroad to obtain a feasibility study.
4. The request is approved by the ISS (or rejected, or modifications are suggested)
5. The ISS releases an attestation of the support provided  the document is sent to the detainee through the prison social worker and to the local partner who will monitor the implementation of the project on site.
6. The beneficiary of the project does not receive any cash; the investments are financed by the ISS through the local partner.
7. Projects are closely followed-up and constantly evaluated by the local partner. Local partners regularly inform the ISS team in Switzerland of the progress of the projects. A year after their implementation, their viability is checked by the ISS. The prison receives by the ISS a feedback on such follow-up.

(Service pénitentaiire du Canton Vaud) https://www.vd.ch/autorites/departements/dis/penitentiaire/
2012 recommendations (section VI in particular). Budgetary coverage: maximum amount per project: 5000 CHF composed of: 1. the detainee’s own contribution (savings from his daily work remuneration in prison) 2. ISS financial contribution (top-up to 5000 CHF)
Raffaella Diana, deputy director of EPO. raffaella.diana@vd.ch Prison : Etablissements de la plaine de l’Orbe (EPO) Canton Vaud - Switzerland) https://www.vd.ch/themes/securite/penitentiaire/etablissements-penitentiaires/etablissements-de-la-plaine-de-lorbe/

Provide support (emotional, practical, material and –sporadically – financial) for FNP’s in preparing for repatriation. The Return and Repatriation Service and The International Organisation for Migration as well as NGO’s are available to provide assistance and support for foreign prisoners when preparing to return to their home country

National

t.bagchus@dji.minjus.nl

Immigration Detention Centres;

See also above under 5.15.1 (admission)

Furthermore, detainees can always take contact with immigration office staff members to get more information about the organization of their return (they get the telephone numbers of the responsible staff members for the prison where they are incarcerated).

National
National budget (Immigration)
Geert Verbauwhede – geert.verbauwhede@ibz.fgov.be + Maryvonne Jacquemin – maryvonne.jacquemin@ibz.fgov.be

Noorderkempen Regional Prisons;

Legal advice and assistance for social workers and prisoners concerning residency status, expulsion and (voluntary) repatriation.

Local Initiative (4 prisons Noorderkempen)
Member of non-profit organization CAW De Kempen
www.cawdekempen.be