Basically I work in the family unit. I serve food. You know you have jobs in detention. I work service assistant – basically we serve the food. They are all on hunger strike. I like serving but the only bad thing is you can’t get extra things – you can’t give people extra because the officers will tell you off. You get paid £3 a day. I 12.30-1-30, 5.30 til 6.30. People come here with no money.

At the moment I’m facing deportation. My human rights and asylum has been refused. My case is very strong but my solicitor is very weak. Other solicitors can’t do legal aid so I can only go with this one. I have a deportation order.

The staff is really really crap. They don’t treat us with respect. They don’t let us have bowls and cutlery in our rooms. They use bedding and towels that have been used by other people and have only been washed with hot water.

When there’s a fire we have to stay inside our rooms but normally we should go to the fire assembly point. There was a fire last month, late last month when one lady put herself on fire and a couple of people got injured. They just said we should stay inside. There was ambulance there was police and fire brigade.

I grew up in the UK since I was in year 4. Since then I was in the care system under section 31. I used to abscond because I didn’t let me see my mum, I could only see her supervised and if I saw her alone you’d get in trouble. When I was 16 committed robbery and I went to prison for 3 years and 6 months I was told to do half. I served the sentence but then I was taken away by immigration. I was told to finish my whole sentence by immigration. If I had my early release I would be out but I’m still in for the full time. And then they took me to Colnbrook Detention centre and I came to Yarl’s Wood in March 2015

They want to deport me now. It took them 8 months to even make a deportation order and they refused my asylum and human rights. I also suffer from mental health problems and ADHD.

It’s horrible what detention does to people. You leave prison and come here and no one its like a new subject that you have to learn. They separate you from your family. They make you feel like you have no hope. I want to get bail but it was withdrawn by the judge three times. I could have got bail but the first time I didn’t have my probation letter to say I could stay at the address. The second time my friend had temporary accommodation so I couldn’t get released to it. The third time my sister was pregnant so she couldn’t come and she was going to be my surety.

Its unfair becauser Social Services could have applied for british citizenship when I was young because I’ve lived there for so long. But now I’m 18 they can’t and they can’t give me support. And now I’m being deported.

It’s not fair that someone who has been brought up in this country. I was born in Venezuella and I’ve been here when I was 4. I came to the UK and they want to deport me to Guyana where my mum is from. But my whole family is here.

I’ve been here 8 months I want people to know what it’s like.