PRE-DEPORTATION DETENTION FACILITIES 5.2.6 – Hesse Reception Centre for Refugees in Gießen – Frankfurt am Main Airport Branch, 5 December 2013 standings which had arisen. The Ministry then, however, informed the National Agency that it stood by its response, which is set out in below. The Joint Commission visited the Frankfurt am Main Airport Branch of the Hesse Reception Centre for Refugees in Gießen together with the Federal Agency on 5 December 2013. The Airport Branch is responsible for accommodating refugees who, in accordance with section 18a of the Asylum Procedure Act, are being held in the airport transit area whilst their asylum application is being processed. It is also used to accommodate those who have been denied entry up until such time as they are returned to their home country. The facility can accommodate 100 people in 25 rooms. At the time of the inspection visit it was holding 38 people (27 men and 11 women). The Joint Commission was not informed of how many minors were present, although it noted at least one child who was being accommodated together with its family. The average duration of stay over the past three years was nine days. The Federal Agency and the Joint Commission first inspected the detention rooms in Building 177 of Frankfurt am Main Airport V Federal Police District Office, where asylum seekers are fingerprinted and photographed. The delegation then accompanied Federal Police officers to Building 587a, where another section of Federal Police District Office V and the Hesse Reception Centre for Refugees, Frankfurt am Main Airport Branch is located. After speaking with officers of the Federal Police there, the Joint Commission introduced itself to the head of the facility and was shown around the building by him. It inspected several common rooms, the courtyard, a cinema room, Christian and Muslim prayer rooms, the library, a sports room, the landing for men travelling alone, and the landing for women travelling alone, families and minors who are regarded as capable of acting in the asylum procedure (“asylmündige Minderjährige”). The delegation also spoke to a member of the church refugee support group of the Caritasverband Frankfurt e.V. (the Frankfurt branch of the welfare association of the Catholic Church in Germany) and a member of the Diakonisches Werk Frankfurt (the Frankfurt branch of the social welfare organisation of the Protestant Church in Germany) as well as to a vicar. After the Joint Commission had received the response of the Hesse Ministry for Social Affairs and Integration, a meeting with the responsible State Secretary and the Head of Division in the Ministry was held at the suggestion of the National Agency. Both the report on the visit and the Ministry’s response were discussed at the meeting. The National Agency made various additions to its report, in order, amongst other things, to clarify some of the misunder- Recommendations and response Neither minors travelling alone who are regarded as capable of acting in the asylum procedure (i.e. they are over the age of 16) nor minors travelling with their families are kept separate from other adults. According to the social worker, in one case this led to an under-age refugee witnessing an adult attempting suicide. The Hesse Ministry for Social Affairs and Integration admitted after the visit that the incident most likely referred to an underage female who was to be separated from her adult husband as she needed to be taken into care by the Youth Welfare Office. The husband had thereupon attempted to hang himself using bed sheets. The incident was still being investigated. In addition to this specific case, the Joint Commission has fundamental concerns about whether accommodating unaccompanied minors and families with underage children together with adults is in the children’s best interests. Due to the especially stressful situation which those accommodated in the Reception Centre are generally under, it seems reasonable to assume that there is an increased risk of selfharm or suicide. This can lead to trauma or can exacerbate existing traumatisation, especially when minors experience such incidents or resistance against the enforcement of forced returns. Response: Minors who are capable of acting in the asylum procedure and who are travelling alone are only kept separate in separate rooms for unaccompanied, underage refugees where there is a need to do so on account of identified developmental deficits and/or in the case of uncertainty, or from a socio-educational perspective, or the minors explicitly request to be accommodated separately. Minors generally wish to be accommodated together with their compatriots, with whom they have shared cultural links and whose language they speak and understand. The Ministry is aware of no problems which have arisen in the past in applying this policy. Otherwise, the rooms for unaccompanied, under-age refugees are available to minors who are capable of acting in the asylum procedure and who are travelling alone, who generally only spend a short period (of one to three days) in the Reception Centre. Minors travelling with their families are accommodated on the “family landing”. They are therefore kept separate from other adults. Since the rooms have windows which look out onto the courtyard and the common and functional rooms are used by all the refugees, the aforementioned minors may also come across or see adults. Naturally, and based on the Ministry’s experience, minors also wish to have contact with adult compatriots. 67