The Hunger Strikers’ Demands

Posted by DV

1. Shorter bail request periods
Legally it should 3-5 days, however it can take anywhere up to 21 days, or even a month before you get a bail hearing date

2. Amnesty for those who have lived in the UK 10 years and above

3. End indefinite detention
Detention periods shouldn’t be longer than 28 days

4. End Charter flights
Charter flights are inhumane because there are no prior notifications, or only an oral notification with no warning. They give no time to make arrangements with family.

5. No more re-detention
Redention should not be allowed – if you have been detained once, you should not be re-detained if you are complying with the laws they have applied. This is a contradiction, you are being punished for complying with the law; it ruins the whole purpose of expecting compliance

6. End systematic torture
Systematic torture takes place in detention – at any point an officer could turn up and take your room mate; you’re constantly on edge, not knowing what will happen next. Those who are suicidal now have their privacy taken away because they are being watched – you don’t know if an officer is coming to check on you or coming to take you away. Our rooms are searched at random and without warning; they just search first and explain later

7. Stop separating families
Separating families is inhumane – people in here are married or have British partners and have children outside, and they are denied their right to private life and right to privacy; their Article 8 rights

8. No detention of people who came to the UK as children
Young adults who came to the country as minors should not be detained, deported or punished for their parents’ immigration histories

9. The beds need to be changed
Some of us have been here for a year on the same bed; they’re the most uncomfortable beds

10. LGBT+ persons’ sexuality be believed
It should be understood that explaining your sexuality is difficult

11. Fit emergency alarms in every room in the detention centre
Only some rooms have them, and there have been a lot of cases of people being very ill in places where they can’t call for help

12. Give us access to proper healthcare

13. Give us proper food to look after our diets

14. Release people with outstanding applications

15. We want to speak to Alistair Burt MP for the constituency

#HungerForFreedom

Posted by DV

#HungerForFreedom
Hunger strike in progress at yarls; wood detention.
We want our voices to be heard, we need an end to this indefinite detention.
Where is the fairness from home office?

Yarl’s Wood Detainees began a hunger strike

Posted by DV

Yarl's Wood Detainees 2

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.

Posted by DV

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?

Posted by DV

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

Posted by DV

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.

Posted by DV

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?

Posted by DV

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 9^th October 2017 they refused me. It took them one year to make this decision.

On the 17^th 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

Posted by DV

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 facilitation collective Statement concerning accounts of abuse in Movement for Justice

Posted by DV

The collective that facilitate the detained voices blog would like to extend our solidarity with those who have published testimonies that describe abuse within Movement for Justice. We have been shocked and disappointed at the level of denial in the MFJ leadership and at their concern to intimidate survivors of abuse and those working to support them rather than respond openly and constructively.

In response, Detained Voices will not work with the Movement For Justice leadership.

Testimony is an important starting point to expose the reality of detention and hold accountable the state and its violence. It is important that we build movements that are themselves accountable so that we do not recreate the patterns of violence that we want to end.

If anyone wants to come forward to share testimony about the misuse of power within the anti-detention movement, the Detained Voices blog will provide a platform for statements.

To get in touch email: detainedvoices@riseup.net