Male detainees at an immigration detention centre have been caught looking through the windows of women's bedrooms, a report has found.Female migrants at the centre have been unable to get around without a staff escort, while men had free movement, a report by the Chief Inspector of Prisons found.Charlie Taylor's report, which warned that female asylum seekers are being put at risk of harm, found 43 per cent of women at Dungavel immigration removal centre in Lanarkshire, Scotland, feel unsafe in outside areas.Official figures show 119 women were being held in immigration removal centres and residential short-term holding facilities as of December 2025 - opposed to around 1,800 men. Detainees are housed in immigration detention to prepare them for deportation, but they can be released onto the streets if efforts to remove them are struck down by judges or their country of origin does not accept them. Mr Taylor's report found 41 per cent of the 777 detainees who left Dungavel over a six-month period had been released back into the community to live in regular accomodation. Others were deported or transferred to another removal facility. Inspectors at the site – which holds both men and women in separate units – witnessed male detainees looking through women's bedroom windows and a group of men approached to ask why they could not 'mix with female detainees', the report said.The centre also held a man assessed to pose a risk of harm to women at the time of the inspection, and another with impending prosecutions for sexual offences had been held there for over a year until shortly before, the report added.'Some women said they never left the female unit unless absolutely necessary, while others were reluctant even when escorted,' Mr Taylor's report said. Male detainees at Dungavel immigration removal centre in Lanarkshire, Scotland, were observed peeping through the windows of female detainees' bedroomsOne woman told inspectors: 'We cannot go outside because of the males and our time to do things is quick because of them.'Concerns were first raised about Dungavel in 2021 when Mr Taylor warned that female detainees were being forced to mix with men with a history of sexual violence because of Covid restrictions.Elsewhere in his report on women's experience of immigration detention, Mr Taylor criticised staff for moving women across the country late at night.In some cases, women who were pregnant, physically unwell or at risk of self-harm or suicide, were transferred with 'little regard for their health or the appropriateness of the transfer', the report said.'These journeys could be disruptive and exhausting and could further exacerbate existing health conditions.'One woman described the process of being transferred as psychological torture.'Inspectors also found 'concerning practices' around the use of handcuffs, including the handcuffing of a pregnant woman.Mr Taylor said of his report: 'Far fewer women than men are held in immigration detention in the UK, and, as a result, their experiences are still largely shaped by policies designed for men.'This report outlines where current processes fall short for women, but also what is working well. In the facilities we visited for this review, we found compassionate and committed staff working hard to support a complex population.'We hope our findings will help the Home Office and its contractors continue to improve the support for these very vulnerable detainees.'The Home Office was contacted for comment. Some 43 per cent of the female detainees at Dungavel (pictured) said they feel unsafe in outside areas due to the menThe concerning report comes in the wake of figures showing more than 50,000 illegal migrants and foreign criminals have gone missing in the UK after absconding.Internal Home Office figures reveal that the migrants – including 1,200 foreign national offenders – were recorded as absconders on Government systems.The data from December 2024, obtained by the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration, show there were more 'missing' illegal migrants than asylum seekers currently awaiting an initial decision by the Home Office.The tally includes people refused asylum who have then absconded to avoid being sent back to their home countries, as well as foreign criminals who have evaded deportation and Channel migrants seeking asylum who have disappeared after being placed on immigration bail.Migrants in the immigration system are required to maintain regular contact with the Home Office through bail reporting conditions.If they don't, they can be classed as absconders which can spark enforcement action such as arrest and detention.Labour blamed the Conservatives' 'chaotic' management of the asylum system for the missing migrants.'Management of contact with those with no right to be in the UK was chaotic and data was unreliable,' a Home Office source said.'Under the previous government, removals failed to keep pace with arrivals and the Conservatives stopped asylum decision-making as they pursued their failed Rwanda plan. As a result, the asylum backlog ballooned to 175,000.'