Foreign National Forums in Prison

“One of our key aims when creating these forums was to give a voice and an outlet to a group that is often overlooked in the prison environment.”

Zac began his career working on a prison wing where four out of every five prisoners was a foreign national. He noticed that many of them suffered with their mental health, struggled with family contact and had communication issues. Zac decided to set up a monthly forum as a way of listening to and working with the foreign national prisoners and their unique struggles.

We spoke to Zac about his aims to change the culture on the foreign national wing, and his hopes to improve the representation of foreign national prisoners and the issues that they face in his establishment:

“The idea of a monthly foreign national forum came about after discussions between myself and other key individuals working with the foreign national prisoners, including the responsible governor and manager of the foreign national wing. I wanted to set up these forums as a way of better understanding the prisoners in my care, and they have already helped us to learn and understand more about what these prisoners need day-to-day so that we can help them to get the most out of their time in prison. One of our key aims when creating these forums was to give a voice and an outlet to a group that is often overlooked in the prison environment , particularly when it comes to policy and strategy.

I have learnt that foreign national prisoners often suffer from worse mental health when compared to the rest of the prison population as a result of isolation, loneliness and bullying. This group can also lack family contact because their close contacts are abroad and in different time zones, which complicates visits and phone calls. What’s more, language barriers can cause an array of communication issues. Many posters, signs and applications are in English, so for a prisoner who is not fluent, completing paperwork or communicating with staff or other prisoners is difficult.

We have received some really positive feedback from the prisoners, although actions and changes can take longer than I would like to come into place. Some prisoners will report specific struggles and may have a long wait before any actions can be completed, which is understandably frustrating for them. But overall, the foreign national offenders we work with have voiced their appreciation that their voices are being heard, and that they have some direct contact with the prison management.

Each month, the forum brings together a group of foreign national prisoners from a range of backgrounds to a roundtable meeting, alongside governors and the immigration team. We pre-select a variety of topics to discuss ahead of the meeting, but we also open up the space for prisoners to talk about any issues that they wish to raise with the group. After the meeting, we make sure to publish the minutes for prisoners to see on the foreign national wing so that we can share the discussions and show how we will be following up on issues raised during the forum.

Off the back of the forums, I have managed to collate a list of books and literature in foreign languages that prisoners would like to see available at my establishment. I applied to Unlocked’s Innovation Acceleration Project (IAP) to put forward the idea of buying books for the wing and have been successful in securing funding to buy foreign literature for the prison. This will mean that prisoners who cannot read English will still have the opportunity to read.

I hope that this initiative will continue, and other officers with enthusiasm for equality and progress will be able to take over. I am especially hopeful that new ideas about custody and changes to my prison will be discussed, and that foreign national prisoners will feel more heard and more comfortable in my establishment.”