Detention of LGBTQI+ people by Home Office rose 70% last year

New Home Office figures obtained under a Freedom of Information request show that over the last two years alone, the number of LGBTQI+ people in detention has almost doubled.

Figures revealed by Rainbow Migration show that between 494 and 506 LGBTQI+ people were held in immigration detention in 2025 – an increase of 70% from 2024, and a rise of 288% since 2022.

Numbers are likely to be significantly higher, as the data depends on voluntary disclosures of being LGBTQI+ to immigration centre staff, which many LGBTQI+ people feel too afraid to make.

Detention particularly harmful for LGBTQI+ people

Detention is harmful for everyone, but LGBTQI+ people are particularly at risk of harm when locked up in overcrowded conditions, often alongside others from the countries they’ve fled.

Inside detention, LGBTQI+ people are bullied and discriminated against, and that can have long-term effects on their mental health. Many will go back into the closet to stay safe, but this is not always possible for everyone.

An LGBTQI+ person was recently hospitalised following a violent homophobic attack while in detention. Ayesha Aziz, legal service manager at Rainbow Migration, said:

LGBTQI+ people in detention are in real danger. I recently visited a man in detention who had been assaulted. Staff did not step in to prevent the homophobic attack or protect him, nor did they contact the police about the incident; he ultimately contacted the police himself. He was extremely afraid of violence.

The detention record showed that the man had disclosed mental health conditions, including a history of self-harm. Despite that, he was locked up in prison-like conditions. Following the attack, instead of receiving mental health support, he was held in isolation, and still had to walk past the people who had assaulted him when attending appointments.

The rise in detention numbers is particularly concerning after this government recently refused to include lesbian, gay and bisexual people in the ‘Adults at Risk in Immigration Detention’ (AAR) policy, which identifies groups that are at risk of harm in detention and makes it less likely they will be detained.

The Home Office held a closed consultation on the AAR policy, to which multiple LGBTQI+ and migrant justice organisations contributed evidence highlighting the harms detention causes for LGBTQI+ people.

In publishing its response to the consultation the Home Office did not respond to those concerns, nor give any reasons for why changes would not be made.

Last year, upon his appointment to the Home Office, 33 MPs also wrote to minister Alex Norris asking that his department’s review recognise the greater risk of harm immigration detention poses for all LGBTQI+ people.

Minesh Parekh, policy and public affairs manager at Rainbow Migration, said:

At a time when more LGBTQI+ people are being detained, the government’s review of the AAR policy was an opportunity to extend the same level of protection to LGB people as is already given to trans and intersex people under the policy, and protect people from unnecessary harm.

Sadly, ministers have ignored clear evidence of harm, refused to act to protect LGB people in detention, and are leaving people without the protections they urgently need.

Featured image via Getty Images

By The Canary

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