PRISONS Unlocking times for male detainees awaiting deportation are from 8.30 am to 12 noon on Mondays to Fridays and between 10.30 am and 3.45 pm at weekends. From 4.15 pm onwards detainees awaiting deportation are locked into their rooms. Female detainees awaiting deportation are allowed out of their rooms between 8 am and 12.30 pm on Mondays to Fridays and from 3 pm to 4 pm at the weekend. At the weekend they are allowed out of their rooms for 1 hour in the morning and 1 1/2 or 2 hours in the afternoon. Both men and women are given access to the yard during these times. Female detainees awaiting deportation are only able to shower on weekdays during unlocking times. These hours should be extended. Since detainees awaiting deportation are not prisoners, they should only be subject to those restrictions which are absolutely essential to the enforcement of this form of deprivation of liberty. That is why the rooms should be unlocked for as long as possible and detainees should be given access to the courtyard and the shower rooms when they are allowed out of their rooms. An exemplary rule applies in Berlin-Köpenick PreDeportation Detention Facility, where detention rooms are only locked during shift change-overs and access is provided to the recreation yard several times each day. Unlocking time in Ingelheim Detention Centre for Persons Required to Leave the Country are between 7 am and 10 pm each day, and detainees have access to the recreation yard and the showers during those times. Response: The recommendation has already been implemented in Mühldorf am Inn Prison. Female detainees awaiting deportation are able to leave their detention rooms, which have normal doors, at any time of day or night, and they may, for example, use the central sanitary facilities or the common room, including the kitchen. Unlocking times for male detainees awaiting deportation are currently from 7 am to 5.15 pm. There are plans to extend these times to 7 pm. During unlocking times detainees can shower at practically any time, seven days a week. It is not possible, both for structural reasons and due to staff shortages, to establish an unlimited “open door policy”, nor is it possible to grant detainees continuous access to the yard during unlocking times, as members of the prison service must be present for security reasons, especially since male and female detainees need to be kept separate in the yard area. Nevertheless, it should be mentioned in this context that detainees have the additional option of using, at specific times, the sports and leisure area which was set up specially in the former working room. According to the prison management, the social service lets detainees awaiting deportation make telephone calls every other week. Other calls may be authorised in urgent cases. However, it is often difficult for detainees to make calls to their home countries on account of the connection failing. The Joint Commission is aware that for security reasons, on account of other types of detention also being enforced in the facility, detainees may not use mobile phones. However, it would like to point out that the use of mobile phones is variously permitted in specialist facilities enforcing custody pending deportation. At any rate, detainees awaiting deportation should be permitted regular access to a telephone which they can also use to make international calls. The visiting times granted to detainees awaiting deportation (30 minutes per week) are comparatively short. Considerably longer visiting times should be granted, as is the case in the facilities in Ingelheim, Berlin and Büren. Response: The recommendations regarding increasing external contacts are likewise already largely being implemented in Mühldorf am Inn Prison. There are plans to enlarge the visiting area. There are also plans to extend visiting times as soon as the requisite staff are available. Detainees are regularly given access to a telephone which they can also use to make international calls. Calls currently still have to be made through the prison’s telephone exchange. However, there are plans to set up a separate telephone room for detainees. The prison already employs one social worker, and three additional social workers will be hired to provide intensive support to detainees awaiting deportation. Some of these social workers have remarkably wide-ranging language skills and experience dealing with migrants. In addition, representatives of the Jesuit Refugee Service, Nuremberg Refugee Aid, Amnesty International and private volunteers regularly visit the facility. Prison staff reported that no external interpreter is generally brought in during the admission meeting and the initial medical examination of detainees awaiting deportation. Where communication problems arise, other detainees are, where possible, used to interpret, including sentenced prisoners. In some cases communication is only possible using sign language, they said. Sometimes everyday life in the unit is only possible though indirect means of communication. The Joint Commission also came to this conclusion after inspecting the files of detainees awaiting deportation, since it noted that one person’s applications were often written by other people. Detainees awaiting deportation are often at particular risk on account of their background (flight, experiencing violence). Because they often suffer from mental illnesses, they find custody awaiting deportation a particularly stressful situation. The following is taken from the resolution adopted in 2011 at the 114th German Medical Assembly: 45