Faith leaders and MPs have urged the government to end indefinite detention for asylum seekers.

Jewish human rights charity René Cassin and Tzelem, the Rabbinical Call for Social Justice, joined Christian and Muslim faith leaders to campaign for a reform of the immigration and detention system.

At an event in Parliament on Wednesday, Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree, Luciana Berger said it was “vital to raise awareness of the issues around indefinite detention.”

She said: “It is an issue in our own backyard, but one that is often hidden and not talk about in our society.
“One of the key issues with people in detention is them suffering from mental health problems. And we know many of them have faced hardships we can’t even imagine.

“Indefinite detention not only exasperates mental health problems, it can have a significant effect on them.”

The Shadow Cabinet Minister for Mental Health criticised “the culture of disbelief and a lack of urgency” when it comes to treating those in detention who are suicidal or who have self-harmed.

She said: “Suicide rates are up 11 per cent. The system has lost sight of the fact the people in there are human beings.”

Mia Hasenson-Gross, director of René Cassin, said the current system “has cost the lives of vulnerable people.”
She praised MPs from across the political spectrum and faith leaders from across society for “coming together to rally against a policy that wastes money”.

Ms Gross also expressed concern that the UK is the only country in the EU that does not have a time limit on how long individuals can be held in detention centres.

The event coincided with the Immigration Bill returning to the House of Commons with amendments aimed at limiting how long vulnerable people can be held in detention centres.

Rabbi Hershel Gluck, a member of Tzelem, said: “God in the Torah constantly instructs us to be just and to pursue justice. The Torah emphasises the dignity of every human being and reminds us of the injustice done to us.

“We have a special ability to empathise with those suffering from injustice, and a special duty to correct it.”

Emeritus Archbishop Kevin McDonald, from the Catholic Caritas Social Action Network, said all faith groups had a responsibility to protect, asylum seekers and refugees “as if they were our own”.

He said: “We gather at the Rene Cassin event on detention in recognition of this shared responsibility, to highlight the need for a fair and humane asylum system.”

Also speaking at the event was and Conservative MP for Bedford and Kempston Richard Fuller.