VISITS BY THE JOINT COMMISSION 1.2 – EISENHÜTTENSTADT PREDEPORTATION DETENTION FACILITY Youth and Women of Rhineland-Palatinate, the retainer amounts to EUR 134.98 in the case of people booked in on behalf of the Saarland Foreigners’ Authority. In the case of those booked in at the instance of a Rhineland-Palatinate authority, according to the facility the retainer amounts to only EUR 5. The foreigners’ authority checks on a case-bycase basis whether all or a part of the money is taken into safekeeping. However, it is not clear why amounts over and above EUR 5 are taken away, especially since the majority of the Länder permit detainees to keep a significantly larger amount of money. The detainees awaiting deportation in Ingelheim probably also find it difficult to understand such unequal treatment. Response: According to section 7 (1), third sentence, of the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act, income and assets must be used in their full amount. According to determinations made by the Saarland, the retainer amounts to some EUR 134 in the case of people who are booked into the detention facility on behalf of the Saarland Foreigners’ Authority. Since Rhineland-Palatinate also allows people booked into the facility pocket money (EUR 137) to cover the socio-cultural subsistence level (section 3 (1), fourth sentence, of the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act) and any pay for work done in the context of section 5 (around EUR 1 per hour), a comparable amount is available to persons to be deported on behalf of Rhineland-Palatinate. The Prison Regulations applicable to Ingelheim Detention Centre for Persons Required to Leave the Country determine how detainees’ correspondence is handled. It contains a list of facilities and persons whose correspondence with the detainees may not be monitored. Since correspondence with the National Agency may not be monitored, the National Agency should also be included in the list. This applies to incoming and outgoing correspondence. Further, the house rules should also mention all those facilities and persons with whom detainees awaiting deportation may correspond in confidence. Response: The Joint Commission will be added to the list in No. 6.5 (“Correspondence”) of the Rules of Procedure concerning the process for implementing expulsion and detention pending deportation outside of prisons and Annex 5 (“Correspondence”) to the Prison Regulations. Further, in future reference will be made during the initial meeting to the detainee’s right to lodge an appeal, and the Joint Commission will also be mentioned in this context. A notice containing this information will also be displayed on notice boards. The Joint Commission visited Eisenhüttenstadt Pre-Deportation Detention Facility on 18 March 2013. Together with the deputy head of the facility the Joint Commission inspected the men’s wings, the women’s wing, the observation rooms, the visiting room, the sanitary facilities, the common rooms, the prison recreation yard and the kiosk. The Joint Commission spoke with several members of staff, including the shift supervisor, with the socioeducational instructor responsible for those in custody pending deportation, and the head of the advisory centre in the ministry of the interior. The Joint Commission also asked to meet with a prison chaplain or psychologist. However, the psychologist does not work set hours in the facility and an external church representative is responsible for chaplaincy duties, which was why neither was present at the time of the visit. The Pre-Deportation Detention Facility can currently hold 108 detainees. It is divided into four wings, one of which is for women. At the time of the inspection visit the facility was holding 12 detainees awaiting deportation, including one woman. 1.2.1 – Positive findings The Joint Commission welcomes the limited use made of the two observation rooms. These were used neither in 2012 nor in 2013. One of the rooms has a system of belts which can be used for Fixierung. However, it has not been used since 2009. Other precautionary measures, such as segregation, were applied neither in 2012 nor in 2013. Unlocking times in the detention facility are generous, from 7 am to 9 pm. 1.2.2 – Recommendations of the Joint Commission and response of the Ministry of the Interior of Brandenburg The Joint Commission found that staff in the facility comprise employees of a security firm. They have no penal service training. The shift supervisors are former staff of the foreigners’ authority and therefore likewise have no penal service training. The Joint Commission recommends that in future when personnel decisions are taken attention is paid to ensuring that at least some of the staff have underdone general penal service training, thus also in dealing with people taken into custody. Regardless of that, training courses on dealing with people taken into custody should be organised for existing staff. 49