The Immigration Service and Bedfordshire Police launched separate investigations yesterday after a riot and serious fire at Europe's largest removal centre for asylum-seekers caused an estimated £35 million worth of damage, writes Rachel Donnelly, in London
Police were continuing a search for up to 15 asylum-seekers who may have used Thursday night's violent disturbance at the £100 million Yarl's Wood Centre near Bedford to escape. However, police also said they could not rule out that the missing had died in the fire.
As the Home Office minister, Lord Rooker, arrived to view the devastated centre, which opened only a month ago as the government's flagship secure facility for failed asylum-seekers and those awaiting asylum decisions, it emerged a sprinkler system had not been installed despite a recommendation by the fire brigade.
Initial reports suggested the fire swept through one of two H-shaped accommodation buildings in the complex and in a reception area after a disagreement between three female detainees and members of the Group 4 security service, who provide staff inside the centre.
One woman was restrained - although police disputed claims by civil rights groups that she was subsequently handcuffed - and the situation quickly deteriorated.
At one stage, Mr Ed Blissett, of the GMB union, which represents many of the staff, said that about 50 asylum-seekers chased security staff through the centre, eventually locking four female staff members inside a cupboard. Keys for the centre's front gate were also stolen and police believe this was how many of the asylum-seekers escaped.
It took 80 fire fighters nearly 12 hours to put the fire out and yesterday morning the accommodation block looked like a twisted, blackened shell. Six people were injured, including one Group 4 officer who sustained back injuries when he jumped from a first floor window.
The centre can accommodate up to 900 people and they have access to a sports hall, gyms and extended visiting hours. It is thought that about 400 were in the centre but one of the difficulties facing immigration officials and the police is that official records detailing how many asylum-seekers were at the centre were destroyed in the fire.
The disturbances have again raised questions about Britain's treatment of asylum-seekers. The government believes holding failed asylum-seekers, some of those who are awaiting decisions and people who have contravened immigration laws in secure centres is the best method to ensure they do not stay in the country illegally.
But Mr Mark Littlewood, of the civil rights group, Liberty, said putting hundreds of desperate people together in one place was likely to trigger violent incidents: "We need to take a long, hard look at the incident and at the treatment of asylum-seekers in general. They need to be treated fairly, calmly and justly, not like common criminals."