They deny everything to the detainees here

They deny everything to the detainees here. There was one officer from Colnbrook who now became the manager of all the officers – he moved next door to Hammondsworth. There isn’t any money and there isn’t enough officers so he makes them move between Harmondsworth and Colnbrook. They are supposed to stay in one wing but they jump between – wing to wing and between centres. Half day here, half day there. The officers he have no idea what he doing or know the detainees properly. Because the officer is stress he taking it out on the detainees. 

Last month three Albanians escaped from here. There aren’t enough officers. They have no control over nothing. Since then they made the fences higher, and they put more cameras. 

I say to them ‘I need some help’, when they lock me behind the door but they say they have to lock the door because they don’t have enough officers. They ask me to help them and stop but i have panic attacks and seizures and they lock the door on me because they don’t have enough officers. I say they need to help me not me help them.

I have pneumonia before in 2011. I have been saying please fix the air conditioning. I have seen about six people working on the air condition but in some room its like freezer. I put toothpaste around the machine in my room to stop the air coming out because 3-5 in the morning it is like a freezer in here. In the day time its not working I can’t breath I use the fan. I have two inhalers since the pneumonia I got here before. I didn’t have asthma before I came here, no one in my family had has it.

I cost too much money since being in health care. Because I cost them more money every three – four day they ask me when I am going, whats happening with my immigration – they want me to get out because i am costing them huge money. They want to know when I will leave or be deported. Just go out from the centre. 

Before, about 2009 – 11 above the visit room there were about 24 detainees. They are the ‘good behaved’ detainees and we had our doors open 24 hours. They change it now for women not for men.  We used to have the doors open. Because there are not enough officers they lock the door. In the hospital we don’t have the doors locked – we are ill why they lock the door?  When I go to hospital they put the hand cuffs on me. I’m disabled and on crutches. Am I a danger to the public or something – how am i going to run away on crutches?!

He hiding something, I gonna call BBC

What happened exactly, somebody told me they find [body] in the cell, ok, and I’ve been upstairs and in healthcare up to the door. An officer, I told him, can I tell you what happened? He said, no, I can’t tell you what happened exactly. And I want to find out, get some news. And my phone, I put BBC News.

Yes, a person inside the room died and three officers they didn’t let me go inside to see what happened, I wanted some information. They pushed me, took me out. They pushed me out… they took me to the block. Why he took me to the block? I am not violence I have not pushed anyone. I told him he hiding something, I gonna call BBC, I know you hiding for us, you want secret here coz everyone knows there lot of problem here. Lot of people in the block, some cut his head, some smash his face, too many problem here in the block. Some people have ticket, some people been here 3 years. It’s the worst centre here, Colnbrook.

They didn’t want to tell me what happened exactly and they took me to the block for nothing, I just wanted some information on what happened exactly. The block, they put me there for 2 days.

They put me in a different wing, they took me out from a very nice place, they put me in a shit place now. They put me in a shit place now, a dirty place. They don’t let me back, they don’t want me to get more information from inside the wing.

Why? Why? Why you put me different wing? For nothing, nothing. All night, block, all nothing, never eat last night, I’ve got mental health problem, I’ve got medication. I’ve been healthcare over 6 weeks.

I’m not very well, I’m shocked about what happened. I’m shocked, you know, I’m scared, someone died. You’ve got people worse here, people suicide here. I’ve been to the block, I’ve seen worse people, some people cutting their head, their body. It is murder here. I’m scared you know. I’m scared.

The officer he not happy when I talk to you.

It took him three weeks to get like this while he was here, and he died.

That guy he came about three weeks ago. He came and they put him straight in the health care centre. Room three. Since when he came the officers watch him for 24 hours a day, maybe because he said he was going to kill himself. When someone says they are going to kill himself they are watched the whole day, everywhere they go.

For the first week, week and a half he was fine. Then he was sleeping and snoring too much. He slept long hours. I believe the medication they gave him was not the right medication. Yesterday about 6:30 in the afternoon he came in from the yard, for the fresh air, with three officers and he was vomiting. The officer said he was an idiot. He was not an idiot, he was sick. Either from the medication or food poisoning. The officer said the nurse knows better. But the nurse didn’t know better.

The officer she denied him everything, all night. He died in her name and on her neck. I promise in the name of Allah he died in the hands of that woman. Mr ****** died because she refused to call the nurse again. The nurse only came twice. When she came out she said ‘don’t call me again’. The officers complied with that. 

In the medical centre there is a room for each person. He was in number three. The nurse and doctor here are denying everything. There was an officer watching him 24 hours. The doctor came for five minutes. ‘Hello, hello, hello’ to everyone and then he leave. At 6 o’clock Mr ****** had some medication. Went out into the yard and then he was vomiting. I believe that medication make him sick. He came back in and his snoring wasn’t right after that. I said to them to check him because he wasn’t sounding right and I thought he might have a heart attack or something. I was told to look after myself and not worry about anyone else. 

About 1 o’clock in the night I heard him screaming because he couldn’t breath. She said to him – the officer told him to stop panicking and go to sleep. How can he sleep when he is coughing and vomiting and he can’t breath? 

They say he killed himself. That is not right. I’ll tell you how. He had nothing in his room. He wasn’t allowed to move from his bed, get some water or go to the toilet without someone watching him. He had no razor. If he wanted to shave they give him an electric razor and anyway he didn’t shave the whole time he was here because he had a big beard.

He was vomiting because of food or medication. When he came to this centre he was fit. It took him three weeks to get like this while he was here, and he died. I saw his face it was all red and he couldn’t breath. Everyone is denying everything in here. 6:30 in the afternoon exactly till 4 o’clock in the morning till he died. 

6 o’clock the police come here in the morning. They open our door at 8 o’clock in the morning. In the morning they don’t want me to talk to the police and they take me out of the centre to outside and when they let me back at 12 noon they lock me in my room immediately so I can’t talk to the police. The doctor and the nurse was not allowed to come in to the centre. The police were taking photos of his room. They came at 6 in the morning and left at 2 in the afternoon. Thats when they opened the doors again and I saw them leave. 

The officers watching him, they changed every one hour. They moved between watching him and behind the desk.  

The officer, she said to someone in another room ‘I’m not going to give you anything. Im going to give you punishment.’ He is going to die soon, he will try kill himself, he gets a lot of punishment from her. I don’t hear his voice in the day, he is very quiet usually, only when she is here he screams and shouts all the time. She wants to give him hassle and he has cut himself too many times, all over his face. You wouldn’t recognise him from the person that came in. He is unwell and she makes him more unwell. Always screaming and shouting – he smashed the door on his hands and legs. She makes him crazy, more crazy. Officers get paid to look after us. They lock us behind the door like the devil and treat us so bad. Ive never seen this in my life. Me, I never ask her for anything because I know the result.  

I asked the officer how Mr ****** died and he said he killed himself. I asked how he killed himself when he is watched the whole time? He said he kept his pills and took them all at once. That’s not possible. We are given our pills by the nurse with a glass of water and they wait till we have swallowed them all. These nurses are really experienced, they know when you have pills still in your mouth. I have five pills and I was swallowing them with the water and one didn’t go down. The nurse, they waited there till the last one went down. It is like they are in your mouth – they know what is going on in there. Mr ****** couldn’t have kept all the pills. It was the pills that was making him sleep so much and snore like that. I am very sorry what happened to Mr ******. He was a very gentle man, really. 

The electricity has been off in Harmondsworth

The electricity has been off in Harmondsworth for two and a half hours. there’s no water. No water in the toilets. none in the sinks for drinking our anything else. We ate outside in the grounds because it’s a blackout in there. They haven’t turned on the back up generator.

A security officer said they didn’t pay the bills. The company that is running the detention center, Mitie, they have to party the bills.

The other thing I wanted to say was that yesterday someone with diabetes and kidney problems had a doctors appointment that he had been waiting for for one and a half months. He knew the  right time but the officer didn’t take him until an hour after the appointment bv and the doctor wouldn’t see him.

I want to talk about work

First of all, I am a fulltime student which give me the right ot education in the UK and is a human right. I am a full time student of construction at a college – The college gave me full support yet the home office put me in detention. I have a partner here and I’m not a criminal. I find it pretty disgusting – it’s a kind of ethnic cleansing. I don’t see why I should be in detention. – I was one of the best students in my department.

I want to talk about work. There is no induction for people who start work in detention. They pay £1 per hour for any job. I was specifically told that I had no right to work outside of detention. If any company out there employ ‘illegal migrant’ then the company get prosecuted and fined and the migrant get arrested and jailed. But G4S, GEO, SERCO and MITIE all run these detention centres contracted to the Home office  and all employ illegal migrants. They should be prosecuted and fined. They make lots of profit and pay us under minimum wage and treating us like slaves. I find this very disgusting. Why are we being treated in this inhuman way.

People work as cleaners, in the kitchen, some people who wash pans, some that work in the library as an attendant, those who clean tables, people who clean the showers. Every essential part of the centre apart from security staff are all done by detainees who are paid £1 an hour.

The health and safety situation is poor as well. One of my colleagues went to the showers. Under the health and safety rules and regulations under the slips trips and falls – wherever there is a hazard of falling they should put a sign so that people don’t. But that was not there until a week ago. A pad mate slipped and fell and almost brought a claim.

In normal circumstances the first thing that gets done when you’re employed is induction. There are no induction packs whatsoever. No one knows their rights from left. I’m quite educated but for most people in here the system is shambolic. IT’s a place where they cage them just to remove them. Everyone is classified as a danger to the public yet they’ve committed no crime and they come from a war torn area. I’ve seen lots of papers and its like a template, they just classify people. IT’s an administrative thing – categorising migrants all into on section. Once an immigrant family, they designate them a danger t the public and need to remove.

It’s not the Britain I used to live in. It’s all politically motivated. No body is talking about this. WE are being used to make profit, as cash cows for the home office and for the security companies. G4S £148 million last year – where are they making this profit? They are making it from those in prison, from detainees. If they employed people outside to work here, they would be paid 6, 7 pounds an hour. Any other job they would punish people for paying £1 an hour. I think this is double standards.

If I’m allowed to work in here, and I get released – I will not be allowed.

Why do I say that the Home office is involved in this? Because before you get a job in a detention centre, the Home office have to clear you. So they know! They have to clear you, so they are involved. If they don’t clear you, then you don’t get a job. They know this is how much they pay. They know exactly what is going. The Home Office, the medical care and the companies are all involved in this. They know about it – so why is it different? Why should we be marginalised and almost enslaved?