KENT — Mitie launched an investigation into allegations of racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, and hate speech among staff working in immigration removal centres. The Home Office stated that the allegations are a matter for the company. Earlier in February 2022, Mitie's chief executive apologized to the home secretary regarding racist WhatsApp posts exchanged by staff. These posts originated from a group of approximately 120 members named 'escorts meet and greet,' created in mid-2019 and subsequently closed.
The submitted dossier includes specific allegations, such as one staff member stating that immigrants "should be kicked out of our country." Another staff member is alleged to have said, "All Muslim men beat their wives." The dossier also claims a staff member escorting migrants commented, "I don’t like to sit next to people on a coach who smell like curry." Social media activity cited in the dossier included a staff member allegedly expressing support for a group linked to activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon. Other allegations detail staff members liking a social media post that referred to women as "old slags." Staff members were also alleged to have liked a social media post featuring an Orthodox Jewish man with an offensive phrase, and another post that stated, "I call my weed the Qur’an, burning it gets you stoned." Additionally, a senior staff member allegedly liked a post that read, "Sadiq Khan is transforming London into a Muslim City. We need to return it to a Christian city." Mitie stated that this senior staff member liked the post by mistake and would not face further disciplinary action.
A whistleblower stated, "As a member of the Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) community, I am appalled, distressed and no longer feel safe or respected in my workplace. It is creating a hostile, discriminatory culture that puts staff, detainees and our government contracts at severe risk. I remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, but I stand by every detail in this submission." The company investigated a racist message broadcast over portable radios at the Manston asylum processing centre last year. The radio broadcast at the Manston centre included language telling individuals to leave. Following this incident, the company upgraded communications technology at the Manston facility to enhance traceability and monitor transmissions. Furthermore, a 2021 employment tribunal dismissed a claim of race and disability discrimination against the contractor but noted that staff had used a racist term to describe Black colleagues. A spokesperson for the company stated, "There is no place for racism or discrimination of any type in our business. We take any allegations of this nature seriously and investigate them thoroughly."