Activist receives Home Office apology for detention at Gatwick
Home Secretary apologises to Bahraini human rights activist for Gatwick incident
The Home Secretary has apologised and offered compensation to a Bahraini human rights activist who was unlawfully detained at Gatwick Airport last year.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei was stopped by the UK Border Force at the West Sussex site last September.
He was returning from addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.
The director of the London-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy said the experience of being detained at Gatwick for two-and-a-half hours was "terrifying".
The Home Office has admitted that the detention was unlawful and offered at least £1,000 in compensation to Mr Alwadaei.
The Home Office sent this apology to Mr Alwadei's lawyers:
In its letter dated December 22, the Government Legal Department said:
"Following your client's complaint, the Secretary of State for the Home Department has reviewed his records and accepts that your client was unlawfully detained.
"The SSHD apologises to your client for the actions of his officials and offers compensation for the distress caused".
Mr Alwadaei was granted asylum in the UK in 2012 after fleeing persecution in Bahrain and was accorded indefinite leave to remain in 2019.
The human rights activist's Bahraini citizenship was stripped in 2015, leaving Mr Alwadaei and his UK-born daughter stateless.
A Home Office official said it did not comment on individual cases, saying "Border Force's number-one priority is to keep our borders safe and secure - and we will never compromise on this.
"Officers may stop any arriving passenger for the purposes of further examination where they are not immediately satisfied that they qualify for entry".