Seeking Refuge? - Rights of Women

in support of your claim need to be translated,
and it appears that this will take longer than
the time allowed under the detained fast-track.
If you are detained, you will be taken to Yarls
Wood, an Immigration Removal Centre which
deals with women whose claims are decided in
the detained fast-track.
Your rights in detention
Women in detention have certain rights, including
the right to a medical examination and the right
to legal advice.
Medical examination
The Detention Centre Rules 2001 15 set out how
detention centres should be run.
Under Rules 34 and 35, you should be given a
medical examination within the first 48 hours of
your detention. This examination should be
carried out by a doctor who will take notes of
what you say and any injuries he or she notices.
It is important that you tell the doctor about:
• any physical or mental health problems that
you have;
• any injuries that you have and how you got
them;
• whether you have been tortured (torture is
when someone causes you serious physical
harm);
• if you have been raped or sexually assaulted
(rape is also a type of torture); and
• if you are pregnant, or think you might be
pregnant.
It is important to tell the doctor all of this
because, under Rule 35 of the Detention Centre
Rules 2001, healthcare workers at Immigration
Removal Centres who believe that a woman has
been tortured, or has a particular illness or
condition, have to report this to the manager of
the Immigration Removal Centre. The report will
then be given to the person who is responsible for
your detention, and also to your case-owner. The
report will be used to see whether you should be
kept in detention or released, and could also be
useful in your asylum claim. It can also be used to
arrange for you to be referred to a specialist
organisation which may be able to arrange
medical treatment for you, or to provide you with
a report for your case.
Medical examinations and detention: the
case of PB [2008]
PB claimed asylum in the UK. She was from
Cameroon and had been raped and tortured.
PB was detained when she claimed asylum
and her case was dealt with under the
detained fast-track. Her asylum application
and an appeal had been rejected. The Home
Office then started proceedings to remove PB
to Cameroon and legal steps were taken to try
and prevent her removal.
The Home Office then admitted that PB had
not been given a medical examination when
she had first been detained as required by the
The Detention Centre Rules 2001. If the
examination had been done when it should
have been, PB would have had independent
evidence that she had been tortured. The
judge found that this report would have
resulted in her release from detention, and
would have been important evidence in her
asylum claim. Consequently the judge found
that PB’s detention had been against the law
and gave her £38,000.
If you are not given a medical examination your
detention will be considered unlawful, following
the case of PB [2008] 16 , and you should seek legal
advice.
How can I get legal advice?
There are a number of legal representatives who
work with women in detention. You will be given
a legal representative to assist you with your case
if you are eligible for public funding (otherwise
known as legal aid).
Your legal representative is the person who
advises you on the law and your rights. Your
legal representative may be a solicitor or an
immigration advisor. A solicitor is a qualified
lawyer who is responsible for dealing with the
preparation of cases. Some solicitors may also
represent their clients in courts or tribunals.
Solicitors are represented by the Law Society
www.lawsociety.org.uk and are regulated by the
Solicitors Regulation Authority www.sra.org.uk
An immigration advisor is someone who is not a
solicitor, but who is able to give immigration law
advice. For information about immigration
advisors, contact the Office of the Immigration
Services Commissioner www.oisc.gov.uk
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