Border Force responded poorly to allegation of inappropriate behaviour by immigration officers

What happened

Mrs B, a British citizen of African origin, was stopped by Border Force when she entered the UK after a holiday abroad. Officials took her to an interview room for questioning and checks on her passport.

Mrs B said that Border Force officers and privately contracted officers were aggressive and rude when they questioned her. She said that when a privately contracted officer body searched her, the search was inappropriate, rough, and watched by other officers. When she subsequently complained about her treatment, she said that she did not receive a satisfactory explanation. Border Force said that all procedures were carried out routinely and that officers were not aggressive or rude to Mrs B, but that she was aggressive and rude to them.

Mrs B said that she now feels nervous when travelling and continues to feel embarrassed and humiliated about the event itself.

What we found

We partly upheld Mrs B's complaint. There was little recorded evidence of what happened, so we relied on the accounts of the different people involved to build up a picture. Mrs B did not dispute that Border Force had a legal right to detain people entering the UK if there were concerns or suspicions about the validity of their passport. Her complaint was about how she was treated when detained. Our investigation found the immigration officer interviewing Mrs B could have communicated better with her, but we did not uphold this part of the complaint.

However, the privately contracted officer did not follow some parts of the guidance on body searches. The search was not conducted privately and no record was made of it. We upheld this part of Mrs B's complaint. It was very challenging to find out whether she was searched inappropriately and roughly due to lack of evidence and witness testimony.

There were also failings in how Border Force dealt with Mrs B's complaint; it did not refer her complaint about the privately contracted staff to the right place, and did not respond to her specific complaints. She suffered additional frustration and distress because of Border Force's poor response to her complaint, and that was an injustice.

Putting it right

Border Force apologised to Mrs B for the injustice it caused her, and gave her a consolatory payment of £250.