§ Mr. HumeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the appropriateness of HMP Magilligan as a holding centre for asylum seekers; and whether it is his policy that asylum seekers should share accommodation with people serving sentences for criminal offences. [83795]
§ Beverley HughesFollowing a review, in 2001, of the detention provision in Northern Ireland it was decided that all immigration detainees in Northern Ireland would be detained only at Her Majesty's Prison Maghaberry and that Her Majesty's Prison Magilligan would no longer be used for immigration detention.
Immigration detainees at Her Majesty's Prison Maghaberry are detained in separate accommodation to convicted prisoners.
It is our policy to transfer persons detained in Northern Ireland to immigration removal centres on the mainland unless a specific request is made to stay in Northern Ireland, in which case the detainee in question will continue to be held at Her Majesty's Prison Maghaberry.