Cedars was an

immigration detention Immigration detention is the policy and practice of incarcerating both foreign national asylum seekers/refugees and immigrants — whether suspected of unauthorized arrival, illegal entry, visa violations, as well as those subject to deportation ...

facility in

Crawley Crawley () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a populat ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

adjacent to

Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport , also known as London Gatwick Airport (), is the Airports of London, secondary international airport serving London, West Sussex and Surrey. It is located near Crawley in West Sussex, south of Central London. In 2024, Gatwic ...

. It was operated by

UK Visas and Immigration UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) is a division of the Home Office responsible for the United Kingdom's visa system. It was formed in 2013 from the section of the UK Border Agency that had administered the visa system. History The then Home Secret ...

with security and facilities maintenance contracted out to G4S and Barnardo's providing

social workers Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

and

child welfare Child protection (also called child welfare) is the safeguarding of children from violence, exploitation, abuse, abandonment, and neglect. It involves identifying signs of potential harm. This includes responding to allegations or suspicions ...

services. Opened in 2011, Cedars was the first immigration detention center in the UK specifically designated for families with children. Unlike other facilities for single adults, which are essentially medium security

prisons A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cr ...

holding immigration violators pending

deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or is under sen ...

, Cedars consisted of apartments in a more open atmosphere. As a result, the UK Border Agency has referred to the facility as pre-departure accommodation rather than immigration detention. The closing of the costly, under-used facility was announced in August 2016. It was closed permanently in December 2016.

Facility

Cedars was built around 9 individual apartments that can accommodate families of up to 6 persons. Each apartment had between 1 and 3 bedrooms, a living room, full kitchen and en-suite bathroom. Families were free to move about the interior of the facility at all times and the facility's grounds during daylight hours. They could also leave the facility with a staff escort for supervised activities. *a fitness center including a basketball court, and equipment for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and other outdoor sports *play areas for children *several lounges *a cafe and dining area - residents may either eat in the cafe or request ingredients to take back to their apartment and cook *a library including immigration law materials *a multi-faith prayer room and

Mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

*computing and internet facilities Residents also had access to organized recreational activities, healthcare, counselling, therapy, and ministerial services if needed or desired.

Controversy

*The use of G4S who has provided deportee escort services in the past for the UK Border Agency is not without controversy for the connection of three former employees to the death of Jimmy Mubenga in 2010.

References

External links

UK Border Agency: Pre-Departure Accommodation
G4S Immigration detention centres and prisons in England 2011 establishments in England Crawley {{UK-gov-stub

Facility

Controversy

See also

References

External links