Fury as migrants facing deportation given ‘luxuries’ including art classes & IT lessons in £260m splurge paid for by YOU ...Middle East

ILLEGAL migrants awaiting deportation from Britain are getting free arts and craft classes, IT tutorials and English lessons.

The perks must be offered under the terms of a £260million contract to run removal centres at Gatwick Airport.

Hundreds held at two ­airport immigration removal centres also have access to board games and library books.

Other perks include a “welfare buddy” to help them adjust emotionally, free gym access and £5 a week in personal spending money.

Those being held at Gatwick’s Immigration Removal Centres are also allowed to request specific items from the on-site shops as well as fresh ingredients to cook their own food in dedicated kitchens.

Detainees can even earn £1 an hour for cleaning, serving up food and managing the gym.

Documents seen by The Sun reveal a 65-page list of provisions to be supplied under the terms of a £260million eight-year contract for public services provider Serco.

Art classes are free to attend and are understood to include skills such as sketching, crafts and acrylic painting.

They take place in “comfortable and pleasant” craft rooms, according to official reports. In one of the centres, there is a quiet place for puzzles and board games.

IT and English classes are offered by qualified instructors and a means of making a hot beverage must be available at all times.

Centre bosses must run monthly diversity and equality committee meetings, appoint a diversity and equality advisor and produce annual race relations reports.

Posters or materials that might cause offence — whether religious, racial or sexual — must be strictly banned from public view.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp slammed the provisions as “madness”. He said: “Illegal immigrants should be on the first plane out, not getting art classes.

“Taxpayers’ money is being wasted on this nonsense.

“The Conservatives plan to come out of the European Convention on Human Rights to enable the urgent deportation of 150,000 illegal immigrants and foreign criminals each year. 

“The Government must stop messing around with woke nonsense and concentrate on deporting those with no right to be here.”

And William Yarwood, media campaign manager with the TaxPayers’ Alliance, insisted: “Taxpayers will be shocked to learn that illegal migrants are enjoying art classes, IT lessons, and even paid work at their expense.

“Instead of prioritising border control and removals, taxpayers’ money is funding luxuries for those who shouldn’t be in the country in the first place.

“This money should be redirected to securing the border and enforcing removals.”

Taxpayers’ money is being wasted on this nonsense

Brook House and Tinsley House, both around 200metres from the main runway at Gatwick, have been run by Serco on behalf of the Home Office since 2020. 

People are held there while awaiting deportation, or while their immigration status is being determined.

In some cases, foreign prisoners are transferred ready to be returned to their home countries after serving part of their sentences.

Upon arrival, personal care plans and welfare assessments are carried out within 48 hours.

Migrants are given a free international phone call and access to e-books, newspapers in different languages and religious texts.

The average length of stay in Brook House is 6.7 weeks, while it is 5.1 weeks in Tinsley House, according to the Home Office.

Brook House opened in 2009 as a purpose-built IRC for adult men, and has around 450 beds.

‘Lack of discipline’

It was built to category B prison standard and each wing has a laundry, table tennis and pool tables, gym equipment, IT and Skype access. 

The most recent report into the centre found there was a “general lack of discipline”, with “smoking in corridors and on the wings”.

There was also “pervasive and unchecked smoking and vaping both in common areas and in rooms”.

Tinsley House has capacity for around 160 men, with some people accommodated in six-bed rooms.

In 2017 an undercover investigation by BBC Panorama found detainees being abused by staff at Brook House, which was then being operated by the contractor G4S.

A later public inquiry identified 19 instances over a five-month period that amounted to mistreatment.

Instead of prioritising border control and removals, taxpayers’ money is funding luxuries for those who shouldn’t be in the country in the first place

Earlier this year, we revealed a migrant removal centre at Heathrow was advertising for staff to teach ­balloon-craft and floristry.

The Home Office ordered contractor Mitie to take the job ads down.

A Serco spokesman said: “We provide options such as art classes and IT provision as stipulated in our contract with the Home Office.”

The Home Office said last night: “This contract was procured and awarded under a previous government.

“We are reviewing contracts for the provision of resident activities in immigration removal centres to ensure they deliver value for taxpayers.”

Our investigation comes as Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will today admit that Britain’s failure to get a grip on border control is “eroding trust” in the Government.

In a speech, she will take a swipe at Reform UK chief Nigel Farage and claim a “strong, joined-up international response” is the only way to stop illegal migration.

More than 36,000 migrants have arrived in the UK on small boats across the Channel this year already.

LANGUAGE RULE LIFT

MIGRANTS will need to speak and understand English to A-level standard to work in Britain under new rules.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is raising the bar from GCSE level for foreign workers, saying it will ensure newcomers “contribute to our national life”.

The change, from January, will require migrants seeking skilled work to pass Home Office written and oral tests in person before being granted a visa.

Ms Mahmood said: “Speaking our language isn’t optional, it’s essential.”

It is part of reforms aimed at cutting net migration, including cutting the post-study work period for international students from two years to 18 months from 2027.

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