A/HRC/42/42/Add.2 define their permitted and prohibited activities, including the use of force. This would also help in setting out a list of arms and the conditions in which they can be used. Furthermore, there is a need to strengthen oversight over such companies by regularizing inspections of company activities. Importantly, there is a need to strengthen accountability and the frameworks for remedies in cases where private security company personnel commit criminal offences and human rights abuses. Private security companies are growing in size and power in the international arena, and they have been known to commit human rights abuses around the world. Strong and centralized regulation is therefore essential. 1. Vordernberg 69. The Vordernberg immigration detention centre, which is located in the remote village of that name in Styria (approximately 70 km north-west of Graz), was opened on 1 March 2014. The centre is jointly operated by the Ministry of the Interior, the municipality of Vordernberg, the private security company G4S and a company called Humanocare. The centre is an impressive modern facility and accommodates undocumented foreign nationals who have been apprehended from various parts of Austria. The detention centre has an official capacity of 193 detainees in pre-removal detention under an “open doors” regime that runs from 7 a.m. to 9.30 p.m. 70. The Vordernberg immigration facility is the only one of its kind in Austria, and G4S was contracted to provide specific services to the detainees there. At the time of the Working Group’s visit, the centre’s staff included 60 individuals from the Ministry of the Interior, 55 from G4S and 15 from Humanocare. 71. The Working Group notes that there are positive aspects of the arrangement between the Government and G4S. Primary among these – and of particular importance to the Working Group – is the fact that G4S is involved solely in administrative matters and services to the detainees. The G4S staff do not have the same powers as the police officers who guard the premises. Their tasks specifically involve providing the detainees with food, monitoring the open-door regime, organizing cultural and sports activities, providing technical support to the centre and arranging for interpreters. The company was not permitted to use force when intervening with detainees, it was not involved in interviews, and it did not impose any security measures. 72. Many of the detainees who were interviewed indicated that they had good relationships with G4S staff compared with police staff. The delegation witnessed this first hand, and concluded that this can largely be linked to the specific functions required of G4S, which do not involve making decisions with a significant negative impact on the detainees. 73. The delegation noted some concerns raised by detainees. One of their prominent complaints was that they were being billed a fee of €70 per day. The delegation learned that articles 19 and 113 of the Aliens Police Act 2005 impose fees on detainees at all detention centres, not just Vordernberg. Some of the bills that the delegation observed being paid by detainees were in excess of €2,000. This system of charging detainees for their involuntary detention is not only unusual but disregards the indigent state and already vulnerable and difficult situation of detainees. The Working Group was informed that these charges would be waived if the detainee could not pay them. If a detainee had sufficient funds on arrival, however, the fees would be taken directly from his or her account. The delegation was further informed that, if a detainee was deported and sought to re-enter Austria at a later date, then the fee owing would have to be paid before re-entry could be granted. 74. Detainees complained that the money they arrived with was taken from them, and that they were not given a receipt or any information on whether they would eventually get the money back. The authorities at the detention centre informed the delegation that these funds were provided to detainees at the rate of €50 to €60 per week through a pre-paid card that they could use at a kiosk at the centre. 75. The delegation observed that, in general, detainees at the Vordernberg centre were not aware of or were confused about how to direct their complaints to the authorities or to G4S. Several of them said that their complaints were often dismissed and their concerns were not taken seriously. Some said that they were threatened with reprisal if they persisted in their complaints. They were not fully informed of their legal status and were anxious 13