A/HRC/14/30/Add.3 Migration’s Assisted Voluntary Return Programme. Those who opt out of voluntary departure can be issued a deportation order by the Home Secretary and detained under the Immigration Act for examination or removal. 47. Detention figures that report the number of persons detained solely under Immigration Act powers showed that, at the end of March 2009, a total of 2,460 persons were detained in UKBA premises (a figure 7 per cent higher than at the end of March 2008, when it stood at 2,305); 2,360 were held at UKBA removal centres and 100 in UKBA short-term holding facilities. Furthermore, 30 people detained solely under Immigration Act powers were recorded as being less than 18 years of age; 20 of these had been in detention for less than 29 days; 5 for between 29 days and 2 months and the remaining 5 for 2–3 months. 48. Detention statistics provided by the Government show that of the 2,460 people detained, 960 had been in detention for less than 29 days; 425 for between 29 days and 2 months; 360 for 2–4 months; 225 for between 4–6 months; 270 for between 6 months and 1 year; and the remaining 215 for longer than 1 year. These figures are not directly comparable with previous figures on length of detention prior to December 2008 because of the use of a revised methodology. B. The detention of asylum-seekers 49. The legal regime applicable to asylum-seekers includes the “detained fast-track” (DFT) procedure, by virtue of which asylum-seekers are held in detention while their asylum claims are decided according to an accelerated procedure. Under the DFT, men have been held in detention at Harmondsworth near Heathrow Airport since 2003, and women have been held at Yarl’s Wood near Bedford since 2005. Although the DFT is supposed to be for cases which can be settled quickly, it is reported that, in practice, most asylum claims can be routed through the DFT, regardless of the complexity of the case or whether it can be heard properly within an accelerated legal schedule. Additional information provided by the Government emphasized the UKBA clear eligibility instruction and exclusion criteria for assessing the suitability of a case for DFT and highlighted that around 15 per cent of cases entering the DFT procedure are taken out because of their complexity. 50. Under a new asylum model introduced in March 2007, asylum-seekers are not detained, but are subject to closer contact management, through a dedicated Home Office case-owner, and have decisions on their asylum claims made according to faster schedules. Despite the fact that the model offers accelerated decision-making processes and increased contact with asylum-seekers without resorting to detention, the Special Rapporteur’s attention was also drawn to cases of children, torture survivors and trafficked women who were detained while their asylum cases were being decided.38 51. Official figures report that, at the end of March 2009, a total of 1,740 asylumseekers had been detained at some stage solely under Immigration Act powers (71 per cent of all detainees), 6 per cent higher than at the end of March 2008 (1,640). Of the asylumseekers detained, 88 per cent were male. 52. In this connection, the Special Rapporteur also heard numerous allegations of instances of indefinite periods of detention of asylum-seekers. This allegation was acknowledged as true by UKBA officers in the last meeting held with the Special 38 GE.10-12095 See Amanda Shah and Adeline Trude, Out of sight, out of mind: experiences of immigration detention in the UK (London, Bail for Immigration Detainees, 2009). 13