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International week of actions to close detention centres 15 – 21 June 2015 |
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In London, join the Protest and Speak Out “THIS IS A PRISON NOT A HOLIDAY CAMP” Monday 15 June 12noon to 2pm Parliament Square,
nearest tube Westminster
CLOSE YARL'S WOOD AND ALL DETENTION CENTRES! Detention without limit – Rape by guards – No healthcare – Mothers
separated from their kids – Fast Track decisions – No legal representation –
Profiteering from detainees' work – Violent deportations
Other
protests: Protest
at Dungavel Detention Centre (Scotland) 30 May at 12pm Surround Yarl’s Wood Saturday 6 June 2pm Book a coach seat at mfj@ueaa.net
In March, 100s of people in 8 out of 11 UK detention
centres from Dover to Dungavel
in Scotland held spontaneous hunger strikes protesting human rights abuses
including indefinite detention. In April, women throughout
Yarl’s Wood IRC refused to eat until the authorities released a traumatised
wife whose husband had collapsed and died. Also in April in the US, migrant mothers detained
in Karnes, Southern Texas went on hunger strike to protest against being
sexually violated in front of their children. Over 1,200 have drowned this
year in the Mediterranean fleeing war and poverty. Survivors who have reached
European shores have said “we are here because your governments are in our
countries causing devastation”. The
All African Women’s Group,
a self-help group of women asylum seekers, many of whom have been detained in
Yarl’s Wood IRC, sometimes for as long as two years, are spearheading this
protest to make visible the extreme suffering and injustice of detention and
to demand the closure of all detention centres. The reality of a £164 million (2013) detention industry is being hidden from the public. Detention
means: · 30,000 people a year are held
without charge or conviction, without time limit, deprived of legal support,
translation or healthcare. ·
Widespread rape and other abuse from guards, most notably in Yarl’s
Wood. Women’s protests have been reported in the press but complaints are often met with
retribution. One
woman who was made pregnant by a guard.
He was sacked but she was deported. A former mental health nurse
turned whistleblower and Channel 4’s undercover video footage showed a racist, sexist, abusive regime, endorsed
by Serco the private company that runs Yarl’s Wood. ·
Mothers
say: our children risk being separated from us forever if we are detained.
Social services are eager to take our kids and put them in foster care or up
for adoption. Children are detained sometimes with the active collaboration of
charities. ·
Legal
cases are heard without lawyers because of legal aid cuts. Thousands of
people are “fast tracked” out of the UK without time to get evidence. ·
A regime of terror and threat hangs over all people fighting for the
right to stay in the UK. As one woman put it: “I shake with fear every time I
sign on because this could be the time they snatch me out of the line and
detain me.” ·
Rampant physical violence
from guards during deportations. None of us will forget Jimmy Mubenga
held down by G4S guards until he
suffocated. Jackie Nanyonjo died
on arrival in Uganda after being restrained like Jimmy Mubenga ·
Slave wages become
commonplace. Detainees are paid £1 an hour to serve food, do
the laundry and clean the centre saving private corporations millions and
undercutting wages outside. “They say it is not a prison but we are locked up
so what is the difference. We are deliberately isolated. Our mail and email
are censored and faxes, even to our lawyers are blocked. When we report ill
treatment, nothing happens or worse we are treated as trouble makers and put
in isolation where suicide watch is used to harass us, invade our privacy and
deprive us of sleep. I fought and got released but had lost my housing and
was destitute. My children were terrified I would be taken from them again so
we lived underground. No wonder women do desperate things to survive. Ms M, AAWG, detained in YW. In Nov 2014 the Home Office awarded Serco a £70
million contract to run Yarl’s Wood for another eight years. G4S were given the contract to run the
healthcare centre. The anti-detention movement has changed the climate
everywhere. In Greece, the Syriza government has started to close its detention centres. In Scotland the
SNP has called for the closure of Dungavel. In the US, the New York Times is proposing to end detention. In the UK, a cross
party All Parliamentary Working Group is recommending to limit detention,
including to a maximum of 28 days. Right
to migrate! Close Detention Centres! No more deportations! WHAT WE CAN DO: ·
Organise an action on 15J - a hunger strike, a vigil, a sit-in, a meeting, a demonstration, an
art event… ·
Contact your MP, councillor, representative, your organisation or your church
demanding that detention centres
are closed. Ask them to come to the protest on their doorstep. ·
Circulate and translate this message, contact the press if you can. Send a message of support we will circulate
it. Whatever you do, let us and the Spanish
organisers know so we can publicise it. You can send your proposed activity by e-mail to:
carlossoledad@gmail.com. All activities will be showcased at this website: https://15jdiacontraloscie.wordpress.com/ STOP PRESS: 24 May, Peckham community (London) kicks out immigration officers. Information 0207 482 2496 All African Women’s Group aawg02@gmail.com Black Women’s Rape Action Project bwrap@rapeaction.net Payday Men’s Network payday@paydaynet.org Women Against Rape asylumfromrape@womenagainstrape.net |
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