We were all really depressed in here, thats why we had to do something. Even though the women are on hunger strike they have life. We needed to take back some control and our voices. If people are out there fighting for us we have to fight for ourselves.
Author: DV
We got to see Diane Abbott today
Hello again from Yarl’s Wood
We got to see Diane Abbott today, although they told her that she couldn’t speak to individual people we had a feeling they would try to show her the “nice bits” and so we waited, for our opportunity. I could not accept that I would be prevented from speaking to an elected official, the last time I checked I was still in Britain and not Guantanamo (or am I?)
In my mind I knew what I wanted to say, the points I wanted to get across, so I was very annoyed with myself when she asked me personal questions about my individual case and I got emotional and started crying.
After I got myself together I followed her to the gym and I stood there as I watched all the women sat all around her and her assistants/political advisors telling her about their individual cases, how long they have been here and so on and I stood there just looking at the desperation, it was like their lives depended on this woman and I felt sad.
But still it was good that she came, anything that raises is our spirits is welcome. It made the enviroment slightly less hostile for a short time and gave an opressed people hope.
I wish I could hope.
Thank you for giving me a voice,
From an angry foreigner made in Britain
So to give you an update on the events regarding our strike
Hello
So to give you an update on the events regarding our strike.
Well the first day was a great success and the second less successful, as officers do their best to dissuade people from taking part, and many are scared this will affect their individual cases.
I know that the Home Office work tirelessly to deport people no matter what their circumstances, what they may or may not do, I am sick of feeling like a helpless institutionalised victim and refuse to participate in detention.
From Monday the core group of activists will not work for £1 an hour in their kitchens or gardens, we refuse to help them detain us, we say better you pay someone with a work permit a living wage to do your immoral work.
We are not happy here and we don’t want to use your gym, we don’t want to go to your library, your salon, your shop, these are all token activities you use to justify our incarceration but know that we want our freedom not your silly limited activities.
We are not your guests, we are your captives whom you choose when to detain and when to release and when to deport.
I just want to add that I believe whenever there are breakdowns in society mostly of a financial kind, then there must be a scapegoat, usually the most visibly different section of society and they are blamed for the lack of investment in infrastructure, for bleeding the economy when in fact they could never sponge as much as the tax dodging super rich and the lords who go to parliament for half an hour and “sign on” so they get paid for work they do not do. Not to mention the banks, so please remember and learn from the history you have written that today you will help them take my liberties and tomorrow they will use that help to take yours.
Thank you
From an angry foreigner who was made in Britain
Yarl’s Wood Detainees began a hunger strike
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.
They have not accepted my wife in this country.
I’m a British citizen & we have been married almost 6 years. And she was on the signing, daily reporting, monthly reporting. They detained her. They’re saying that she has overstayed and that she must claim asylum. She wasn’t overstayed at all.
I am suffering from epilepsy.
We have been married since July, 2012. And we were living together before.
In October when she was reporting. The issue they took was in November. They cancel the ticket.
They put her case to judicial review. The application has been accepted.
The letter they are giving me now, says we are not married at all. That she has no right to stay in this country.
We are suffering in our married life. I have a physical disability. And the Home Office is not accepting at all that this is a general marriage. I have got all statements from the Home Office & they said they can report anytime. They have not accepted my wife in this country. They said I can go & settle with life in India. I’m here since 1980 from a very young age & now I have no family relation over there – no brothers or sisters & my parents are no longer.
The Home Office saying to me I can go back to India with my wife because she is an Indian national.
knock-knock is anyone listening?
Rory is still in the block (after more than a week) and still not eating….how long can a person be placed in isolation in a detention centre for that long? Surely there got to be some kind of law prohibiting this kind of behaviour by prison officers. After all we are supposed to be treated as civilians and not prisoners. It is still not clear why he is being kept in the block. Even those who are involved in fighting or those found in possession of banned items are not kept that long in isolation. The official name for the Block is CSU (care & separation unit), that’s an oxymoron, my friend is being tortured there right now as we speak and I believe some thing should be done about it. This is Great Britain! if this is tolerated, then it can be argued, strongly in my view, the only thing that is separating Great Britain and Nazi Germany is those gas chambers. Maybe those words are a bit too strong, but the truth hurt. But that is how strongly I feel about the injustice we are being subjected to. If you think those words are strong; multiply that by a hundred fold; that’s the strength of the pain we under. Being a foreigner does not make me any less human…..I feel pain too. Indefinite detention is inhumane therefore a Shame…..being isolated in a detention centre for more than a week without food is tragic and criminal. knock-knock is anyone listening? speak up for the voiceless you are our only voice …and hope!
Britain’s disgrace- IRC Morton Hall
I am writing this letter about the trauma being inflicted on ‘inmates’ at this so called detention centre.
[My friend] is now in the CSU aka the block (isolation unit) simply because he dare express an opinion about what he witnessed. An incident in which he perceived that officers had used excessive force on another detainee. In another incident, an officer replied “I don’t care” after being questioned about what was going on with a detainee who had died in an apparent suicide.
Most residents believe that the centre is guilty of this detainee’s death. If there is any justice, then they should, at least, be facing charges of culpable homicide. It was very clear that this detainee was suffering from some kind of mental health issues and he should never have been in the centre in the first place. Also the doors are locked between the 20:30hrs to 08:00hrs in the unit where this suicide occurred. Officers only check on detainees twice during the night at 23:00hrs and 06:00hrs.
In another suicide attempt, the detainee was saved by another detainee. as his unit is the side of the centre where doors are not locked therefore other detainees can look out for those detainees who are vulnerable. We would be talking, yet again, about another detainees death if not for the timely intervention by a fellow resident who managed to be going past his door and saw him hanging, have dead and raised the alarm. With the kind of Judges at these First tier tribunals, I am not surprised that some people think the only way out of this place is suicide. The first tier tribunal(Immigration & Asylum chamber) is not fit for purpose.
I do not believe that a person should be forcefully removed and placed in isolation for having an opinion. I believe he was injured in the process and yet he has not received proper medical care. The man was denied fresh clothes and shower on his first day in isolation. he has not eaten for the past couple of days due to a lack of trust and his belief that these officers are so vindictive they might probably spit in his food before giving it to him. Or even worse.
There is no accountability and that only fuels these officers’ belief that they can do anything and get away with it. All our complaints seems to fall on deaf ears.
I came to this country 15 years ago. I have 2 children here.
I came to this country 15 years ago. I have 2 children here. I had just been to visit my family in Brazil and on my way back I was detained in Pembroke for one week, and then moved here, to Yarl’s Wood.
In here you have to stay in one room. You can only go out to eat, which is twice a day. You can’t go out or speak on the phone properly as people are always listening. Plenty of the girls here do not speak to their family and cannot afford to buy food.
You can’t have family visit because for them to come here you have to make an appointment and for some this is very difficult. And there is no way for you to see your child.
Some girls are here for 2 years and don’t move. Only to eat. 4 girls here have mental conditions.
Please help these people.
It is horrible here.
Some don’t speak very good English. People search your bag when you arrive. You can bring only pants, no clothes here.
It is like a prison.
The food here is horrible. No dogs would eat it.
It’s very cold here.
There is one room for two girls. Plus, some girls have bad health. No one comes to help them as they can’t speak English.
Some girls don’t have money to eat, and they aren’t able to get in touch with family. Some girls here don’t know how to get a solicitor and don’t have money so can’t access help.
We are being controlled by officers for 24 hours. Controlled. Everything is controlled.
I was married here under British law, why are you pushing me back to my country?
I can stay here because my husband is British and I fulfil all the requirements. I did one year before and we did everything. As an attendant I did one year, and then they refused me.
When I was in appeal they tried to remove me. I said that my appeal was still pending. They said they couldn’t find anything about my husband. They said I wasn’t living with my husband. Said I wasn’t compliant.
But how can they know? How can they say I’m not living with my husband?
I gave proof of ID, proof of address, but still they did not believe me.
Despite everything they have called me non-compliant. I have 8-10 emails which I sent and the Home Office sent me. I have evidence that I have complied. I have responded to everything.
I did comply and I am still living with my husband, but they said I wasn’t and that I was non-compliant.
On the 9th October 2017 they refused me. It took them one year to make this decision.
On the 17th October 2017 they took me and detained me. Gave me a ticket. “You aren’t supposed to be here”. Said you must go back to your country.
I called my husband and lawyer crying. I was in Colnbrook.
They didn’t give me an appeal right. They wanted to deport me and for me to appeal from my country. But I want to fight from here. I have the proof here. How can I fight from there?
I was married here under British law, why are you pushing me back to my country? My husband is here. I want to be here.
My judicial review is in Court, I’m not sure how long they will keep me here.
I have applied for bail.
I fulfil everything, the requirements, but still they are saying no, I must return to my country.
I was out when they came for me at my husband’s.
It’s really unlawful what they are doing.
Inside the detention centre you don’t feel you have any rights
Inside the detention centre you don’t feel you have any rights. They keep telling us we need to go back to our country. Everyone needs to be aware of this because they detain people unlawfully – maybe some people are detained for some reason like crime – but I was reporting for 2 years regularly but they still detained me. What’s the point of that? I was applying for a visa, paying the money. I try to see a doctor and they tell me I’m not entitled to see a doctor! There are people struggling health issues. They tell us that we are just pretending to be ill, why would we do that? In this country I believe that everyone is entitled to see a doctor, especially if the state is detaining you.
I was here in this country for 9 years, and then this ruined everything. I can’t socialise and do anything.
I agree with every single condition that they offer for my visa application but then they still detain me.
I have been here for 4 months, some people for 6 months. Of course some people get let out after a few weeks but then they come back again. If you want to bring them again here then why give them bail and then bring them back.
I wish when I get out and I get a good job that I will be able to do something about this because it is wrong.
detained voices 