UK plans to send prisoners to prisons abroad to ease overcrowding

Manchester, United Kingdom, Oct 3 (EFE).- British Justice Minister Alex Chalk announced Tuesday that he plans to send prisoners to foreign jails to alleviate “dangerous” congestion in Britain’s correctional facilities.

“Renting prison places in other countries will ensure that we always have the space to keep the public safe from the most dangerous offenders ,” the minister said at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, northern England.

The government plans to change the law to allow the transfer of prisoners to other countries “provided the facilities, regime and rehabilitation provided meets British standards,” the Conservative government said in a statement.

The press release claims the proposal is “similar to steps taken” by other European countries, including Belgium and Norway, which “used foreign prison places in the Netherlands in the last decade.”

“This government is doing more than any since the Victorian era to expand prison capacity,” insisted the Justice Secretary, who is responsible for the plan to create 20,000 new “prison places” in the UK.

And Prisons Minister Damian Hinds said “Public protection is our top priority which is why we are rightly locking up the most dangerous offenders for longer. To do that, we must continue to ensure we have sufficient prison places.” EFE

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