Prayer is No. 1 medicine for fed up prisoners

The Church’s overseas prisoners outreach says Government must work harder to get Irish inmates repatriated, writes Michael Kelly

Almost six out of ten Irish prisoners in jail overseas said that prayer and spirituality were their top ‘go to’ when it came to dealing with Covid-19 stress.

The Irish Council for Prisoners Overseas – the Church’s agency to support Irish inmates abroad – undertook a global survey of its 1,100 people supported, which is made up of Irish citizens imprisoned overseas.

The survey aimed to provide feedback of first-hand accounts and testimonies of the experience of prison abroad, with all the additional challenges that that entails. The ICPO described the response rate of 114 replies to the survey as “very high”.

The results reveal that when prisoners were asked what helps when they feel stressed or anxious, 57.9% said prayer or spirituality. While 19.3% said they turned to yoga or meditation, 43.9% said they found the gym helpful when stressed or anxious and 28.1% said that mindfulness was their ‘go to’.

Key findings

Other key findings included:

– 60% of respondents reported experiencing mental health difficulties whilst in prison. A significant proportion of respondents reported feelings of isolation and having little time outside of their cell (a feature exacerbated by Covid-19);

– A range of other difficulties and adverse impacts were identified from the pandemic including lack of visits, 23 hour lockdown in their cells, concern for their own health in a confined setting, delays in legal hearings and inability to access educational and offender behaviour courses;

– More than 70% of respondents said their primary concern arising from Covid-19 was not for their own health but for the welfare of their loved ones at home;

– 42% of prisoner responses indicated they didn’t know what their plans were after their sentence overseas was completed;

– The majority of respondents were in regular contact with ICPO with 23% in contact at least monthly and a further 50% contacting ICPO at least a few times a year. The survey responses indicate that Irish prisoners overseas view ICPO as a trusted source of information and support;

Survey

Commenting on the survey findings, Bishop Denis Brennan, chair of the ICPO said, “Our survey highlights the mental health difficulties experienced by Irish people who are in prison abroad. While it is widely accepted that such problems are a reality for many in prison at home, in the case of a citizen in prison in a foreign country these are exacerbated by time; distance, especially from loved ones and family; finance; isolation; language, and a myriad of potential cultural barriers.

“Our findings complement the ongoing feedback we receive as to the importance of outreach to people on the margins of society,” he said.

Dr Brennan added that he is: “concerned by the relatively high number of survey respondents indicating an absence of a clear sense of direction after their release from prison.

“It seems that such uncertainty is a consequence of resettlement supports being withheld from foreign national prisoners in a number of countries and the inability for many to access educational, resettlement and offender behaviour courses during the pandemic.

“It also serves to highlight the value of the resettlement work undertaken by ICPO staff – something which became increasingly significant throughout the pandemic period.

“I wish to commend the tireless commitment of the small ICPO team which is in regular contact with approximately 1,100 Irish citizens in prison in 30 countries around the world,” he said.

Bishop Brennan revealed that in 2020 alone this work involved 10,000 letters, phone calls, emails and prison visits made to, from or on behalf of Irish citizens overseas.

Trojan

“All of this is Trojan but unheralded work, and bears real witness to the Gospel mission to love God and to love one’s neighbour as oneself,” he said.

The survey asked questions under a number of different headings: ‘Life in Prison Overseas’ (including during Covid-19), ‘Resettlement’, and, ‘The Services and Supports you Receive from ICPO’.  The following are the key findings and conclusions:

The survey findings concluded that restrictions imposed in prisons during the pandemic led to considerable hardship for prisoners. Whilst some restrictions may remain necessary on a country-by-country or prison-by-prison basis, access to physical, educational and certain social activities should be provided to the greatest extent possible within national health guidelines.

The ICPO said that coronavirus-related restrictions in prisons should be lifted as soon as it safe to do so warning that “they should not be permitted to become the ‘new normal’”.

It said that, for example, access to video-calls should continue to be permitted when restrictions are lifted but should not be used as a replacement for physical visits from family and friends.

The report found that prison authorities must ensure that appropriate supports are in place for prisoners who are experiencing mental health difficulties. The lack of adequate mental and physical healthcare in prisons in some parts of the world highlights the importance of prisoners having an advocate whether it is family, ICPO or an Irish Consular official.

Urgency

It was recommended that a well-resourced, transparent, fair and expeditious repatriation system should be put in place as a matter of urgency. This will ensure that those prisoners who wish to do so can, if eligible, return to Ireland to serve the remainder of their sentence in Ireland close to their families and be better supported in preparing for release.

“While long awaited draft legislation has now been published in relation to prisoners in EU states, it will be insufficient without further amendments to existing legislation and adequate resources to process applications efficiently,” the report said.

The ICPO was established by the bishops’ conference in 1985 to work for Irish prisoners overseas wherever they are and in that time it has supported prisoners abroad from every county on the island of Ireland, and it makes no distinction in terms of religious faith; the nature of a prison conviction or of a prisoner’s status.

It is estimated that, at any one time, there are up to 1,200 Irish people in prison overseas in approximately 30 countries around the world. A significant majority are in prison in Britain, with relatively high numbers in the USA, Australia and throughout Europe.