PRE-DEPORTATION DETENTION FACILITIES Legal advice is provided neither by internal nor external experts in the Langenhagen Unit. Once a week the church-run organisation Rafaelswerk offers detainees awaiting deportation advice regarding forced returns. However, this primarily serves to assist returnees in reintegrating into their home country. Detainees awaiting deportation must be able to draw on legal advice. They should receive support when it comes to contacting lawyers, for example, or non-governmental organisations. The Joint Commission regards the free legal advice which North Rhine-Westphalia offers to detainees awaiting deportation at Büren Prison as exemplary. It is organised by the local lawyers’ associations and is funded by the Land government. Response: The internal review into whether existing budgetary means can be used to provide free legal advice to detainees awaiting deportation has not yet been completed. The review being conducted by the Ministry of the Interior as lead ministry into whether and if so to what extent cooperation could be entered into with other Länder is also still ongoing. The toilets are not located in the detention rooms, but on the landings. After 8 pm detainees first have to ring a bell so that their door can be unlocked and they can then go along to the toilet. The Joint Commission feels this is not ideal. However, according to staff, depending on the level of occupancy and an assessment of the security situation, doors are not always locked at night. According to the European Prison Rules, each prisoner must have access at all times to sanitary facilities 67 which are hygienic and protect their privacy. Response: Detainees awaiting deportation are no longer locked into their detention rooms at night. Only the doors to the unit in the stairwell are locked between 7.30 pm and 7.30 am on weekdays and between 6.50 pm and 8 am at weekends. Detainees awaiting deportation are therefore not prevented from going to the toilet, and do not first have to ring a bell. The communal showers do not have partitions to protect detainees’ privacy. Although, in view of the low occupancy rates, this does not currently pose a problem, a practical solution has been found in that detainees shower individually and at different times of the day. Nevertheless, the lack of partitions could become a problem when occupancy rates rise, which is why the Joint Commission deems it necessary that partitions be installed. Response: Partitions have been installed in the communal showers to protect detainees’ privacy. So far, the facility’s house rules are only available in German. The visiting delegation was informed that an tions. However, in other cases, alternative options are used, for example bringing in other detainees to interpret. This can, however, be detrimental to the confidential nature of these meetings, especially when personal details are being revealed. External interpreters should therefore always be brought in where required, both during the admission meeting and the initial medical examination. Other detainees should at any rate not be used in this capacity when confidential or personal information is being shared. The Joint Commission moreover recommends increasingly allocating people with relevant language skills to work in this unit. Staff with different linguistic, cultural or ethnic backgrounds might have a positive influence especially when it comes to communicating with detainees awaiting deportation. Büren Prison serves as an example: Firstly, Büren Prison allocates prison staff with various linguistic skills. Secondly, European Homecare provides various services, and the company employs people with different backgrounds. The Joint Commission gained the impression that this linguistic and cultural diversity has a positive impact on the atmosphere in the facility. Response: The Ministry does not feel the need to take any action as regards the linguistic qualifications of staff employed in the Langenhagen Unit. Staff speak the following languages: Arabic, Bosnian, English, French, Italian, Croatian, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Spanish and Turkish. Particular attention is paid when recruiting new staff to their linguistic, cultural and ethnic background. The Ministry thus shares the Joint Commission’s opinion that this has a very positive impact on the atmosphere in the facility. The Joint Commission had the impression that the range of training courses available to staff working in custody pending deportation could be expanded. For example, there is no training course which deals with intercultural skills or identifying traumatisation. However, staff have a key role to play in spotting problems, since it is they who experience detainees on a day-to-day basis. Staff should also be able to recognise the signs of trauma and to call in psychiatric or psychological help. Response: Based on the recommendation that staff should undergo training, an event for staff in all civil service grades has been included in the 2015 training and development plan in order to improve intercultural skills for dealing with detainees. The Langenhagen Unit has two specially secured rooms which are camera-monitored. They each have a squat toilet. The Joint Commission welcomes the fact that the toilet is only visible on screen in pixellated form. However, the toilets are in full view through a peephole. This seems inconsistent. Response: The peephole in the specially secured room has been rendered unusable. 67 65 Council of Europe, Recommendation CM/Rec(2006)2, No. 19.3