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Britain's prisons are teeming with foreign nationals, many of them
from India and Pakistan, and the government may release some
inmates to release the pressure, according to Home Secretary
Charles Clarke.
The country is grappling with the problem of overcrowding in
prisons, and latest figures show that there are 10,000 foreign
nationals in the prisons.
There has been a dramatic rise in the number of foreigners jailed
by British courts in recent years and the government is
considering freeing some of the offenders to release the pressure.
Clarke told the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee
that the number of foreign nationals in prisons had risen seven
times the rate for British citizens.
There are inmates of more than 160 different nationalities behind
bars, with Jamaicans representing the largest group.
There are also large numbers from Nigeria, Turkey, India, Pakistan
and Ireland. Foreigners represent about one in eight of the prison
population, which reached a record 77,774 last week, according to
The Independent.
Clarke told the committee that it was 'very close' to reaching the
maximum capacity for jails in England and Wales of 78,147.
He said: 'Twelve to 13 percent of the occupants of British prisons
at the moment are foreign nationals. That is a very large number
indeed.
'From 2000 to 2005, the number of British nationals in British
prisons increased by 11 percent while the number of foreign
nationals increased by 75 percent over that period. If the foreign
nationals had increased at the same rate as the British we would
have about 3,500 fewer prisoners than we do today.'
Clarke admitted that ministers were considering extending the home
detention curfew scheme, under which offenders are released early
on electronic tags, to ease the pressure on the system.
The Home Secretary also said the emergency use of police cells to
hold prisoners was possible.
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