Befriending Group's Story

A mental health hospital had a practice of detaining asylum seekers using the Mental Health Act without using an interpreter even if they spoke little or no English. Members of a user-led mental health befriending scheme used human rights language to successfully challenge this practice after attending a BIHR session. They were able to argue that it breached the asylum seekers' right not to be discriminated against on the basis of language and their right to liberty.