Yarl’s Wood Detainees

On the 21/02/18 the Yarl’s Wood Detainees began a hunger strike in which approximately 120 people took part in a protest against some of the more offensive practices of the Home Office which include but are by no means limited to the following:

• Habeus Corpus (the violation of). We think it unfair that a person who’s vocational success is based on how many people they remove is responsible for deciding who is detained, this is an obvious conflict, morally bankrupt. If Liberty is to be taken, let it be taken not lightly and by a qualified Judge in a court of Law. The majority of detainees are not detained by a Judge.
• The UK is the only country in the EU with no time limit on detention and people are detained indefinitely pending the Home Office’s incompetent and untimely manner in handling cases.
• Rape.  The Home Office refuse to accept that rape is torture, we find this fundamentally offensive as they continue to detain victims of sexual and gender based violence.
• Victims of Torture, Human trafficking, modern Slavery, asylum seekers and sick and disabled people continue to be detained.
• Young Adults who come as minors and are culturally British are detained because of parent’s failure to complete paperwork
• The healthcare system does not meet the needs of most detainees, Ailments are left to become before being dealt with if at all.
• The L.G.B.T community is affected negatively due to prejudice, even discontinuing hormone treatment for transgender people.

We believe that the Home Office is overwhelmed, not fit for purpose and operates in a rogue manner.