Discrimination against ex-prisoners

Life for the released detainee is a mass of difficulties. After years with little or no contact, a released prisoner may return home to find that his wife has remarried or that all his relatives have left without trace. Released detainees often find a community afraid to welcome them back; alienation from friends, neighbours and even close relatives is the result. There may be no state schemes to facilitate the process of adjustment to society. Few people want to take the risk of employing a man or woman with a criminal past, and many jobs are firmly closed to ex-prisoners because they require political clearance papers. In many cases prisoners find themselves second-class citizens, and to the reality of such dire straits is added the possibility of rearrest. Released prisoners are always likely suspects in crimes. Indeed, there often seems to be no alternative to continuing the life of a criminal.