HORROR AT VIOLENCE AND RACISM AMONG IMMIGRATION STAFF

Suspensions double as 50 lose jobs

- NICK SOMMERLAD and AARON WALAWALKER

THE number of staff suspended from working at immigration detention centres doubled last year.

One officer was said to have repeatedly kneed a detainee in the head, while another allegedly kicked a sick boy.

Research by this newspaper and human rights journalism unit Liberty Investigates shows 102 were suspended between January 2020 and mid-February 2023. Documents show 50 were axed or resigned while under investigation.

And 44 were reinstated, including on appeal and condition of being demoted. Eight were awaiting an outcome in February, when the data was gathered. The suspensions included 49 last year and seven in the first six weeks of this year, against 22 in 2021 and 24 in 2020.