By Martin Banks - 8th June 2010
Only in a very few cases do detainees describe their personal situation as having improved after detention
Asylum report
UK deputy Jean Lambert has fully endorsed a report calling for "improved standards of reception" for asylum seekers.
The report, published at a Brussels conference on Tuesday, says that current standards are "inadequate".
It says the "human cost" of detention is too high and makes a number of key recommendations designed to improve conditions for asylum seekers arriving in the EU.
The report was published at a seminar on the "detention of vulnerable asylum seekers and irregular migrants to the EU".
It says detainees "overwhelmingly" feel negative about the conditions of the detention centre and there are frequent complaints about overcrowding in such place.
The living conditions of centres, it says, "bring harmful physical health consequences" and that prolonged inactivity is "inherent".
The document, drawn up to assess conditions of asylum seekers who are kept in detention, concludes, "The results show that persons with officially recognised needs, such as minors, young women and the medically ill, are negatively impacted by detention.
"In almost every case, the study shows that detention has a distinctively deteriorative effect on the individual.
"Only in a very few cases do detainees describe their personal situation as having improved after detention."
Lambert, a Greens deputy for London and one of the speakers at the seminar, said she endorsed the findings of the report and called for improved reception conditions for asylum seekers.
In particular, she said she supports the recast "reception conditions directive" which sets minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers.
The conference was organised by the European office of the Jesuit Refugee Service.
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