I have been in Yarl’s Wood going on for eight months. What we are going through is a living hell – it is very hard for us due to the fact that we are monitored and limited to our basic needs – eg we can do very little on the computer, the food is not palatable and women are sick of it. Healthcare is very poor – we all suffer. I myself am very sick, I have a terrible back pain and I cannot get any medication or treatment. It takes forever to get an appointment to see the GP no matter how sick you are. I have been trying to get bail – it is a tedious process going back forth to court and I am ridiculed for asking to be set free.

[Yarls Wood is the UK’s only immigration detention centre specifically for detaining women]