Yarls Wood

I am involved in the hunger strike

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I am involved in the hunger strike because I think we face very unfair conditions in that we are detained for an indefinite amount time. The uncertainty that we face everyday is unbearable which leads us to have stress, panic, and in turn a lot of health complication. This is the reason why we decided to go forward collectively with this hunger strike. Even though many of us have health issues such as high blood pressure and diabetes we have nevertheless persisted to continue the hunger strike because we want the public to know what we face and make sure there is a change in policy.

We have been detained without notice. Young girls after having turned 18 are sent into detention centres. People who hold short term visas are sometimes sent straight from the airport to the detention centres. Many of us have our cases which are running but the Home Office still sends us tickets to go back home which gives us a lot of stress. Today, 3 girls were given tickets to go back to India. One of them is due to leave on Monday. Her case is running and yet she is given a ticket. What can she do— she only has 2 more days. Even when we try to pave our own path by asking for bail or temporary release we are always refused. They just do not allow us to do make our own attempts through legal paths— they are always impeding. They do not allow is to get work permits outside but make us work for £1 an hour or £3 for a day. It’s very unfair.

Today when Diane Abott came to visit us, we gave her a list of demands on behalf of the women of YW. She looked at them and told us she would make sure that something would happen. She told us that she would take this to the Parliament and make sure that the detention is reduced to 28 days and no longer be indefinite. We have hope but we will still continue with the hunger strike so that something will definitely be done.

We got to see Diane Abbott today

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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

She managed to see us. Diane Abbott the shadow home secretary was here this morning.

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She managed to see us. Diane Abbott the shadow home secretary was here this morning with her entourage. One of them was Shami Chakrabarti, the human rights lawyer.

We, as a group of people who are detained here and are on hunger strike, we wanted to show the management here that we wanted to see her. In case they wanted to stop us, we went down to the reception corridor. We wanted to stop them showing her the better places and stopping our grievances being heard.

I was the first person to say what was happening about me because I was at the front of the group.

We had to go into the sports hall because there was no space where we were. The poor woman had a chance to talk to us all, one by one to hear our stories. She had, to sit down and listen to our grievances of most us, even though she didn’t have enough time for everyone. Even though she was there for 15 minutes, she managed to hear each and every one’s story. Which is what we want- we want people to hear our cry.

We were really crying to her. Even herself she was emotional as well to see us in that state. If you see someone crying if makes you emotional too. Because so many people wanted to talk to her about their experience here. When we saw her, we had all wanted to see her. She was Someone we had always wanted to see.

Her secretary was saying that there was not enough time to hear from everyone and she said we should write our stories and concerns, put it in an envelope or send it through emails. So far, we are happy that at least there are a lot of people are supporting us.

Oh my god, there were people who were crying. People who were detained for 10 months 12 months 14 months. We spoke about how we are not allowed to work outside. But when we came here they want to employ us for £1 per hour for 3 hours in a day. She heard us. If that they can employ us here, why can’t they let us work out there and contribute to the country? Especially those who have lived here for so long.

What we want is for her to go to talk to those people who are in power. To take action and deal with our situation here.

We are women, we have a life. We need to work. Our children came to the UK when they when they were young and now they are being detained. Everything here is depressing.

I want to say to Diane Abbott that we have been waiting for that moment. That she was indeed a shoulder, the only shoulder we have, to cry on. They should act on all the demands we have made. They are all critical. And, please, even if they will not meet all of our concerns, make sure the young people and people who have no lives elsewhere are not detained. The young people are the future of Britain, why do they want to detain them?

They should never call us illegal immigrants – we are undocumented migrants – I can’t wait for it to end, my daughter can’t wait.

Last night a lot of us on the wing we watched question time. There was this lady, Ash Sarkar, who said ‘why do you detain women who are pregnant and vulnerable women and women with health issues and refugees who have cases that have still pending and have rights of appeal in Yarl’s Wood’. And the man, who was part of the government said, they don’t detain such people as asylum seekers. That is a bloody lie. That was a lie from the pit of hell. How can you say that you only detain illegal immigrants who you are about to deport, but then you release them and then you redetain them over again and cause trauma to them for obeying your rules to go and report?

When I saw that, I felt that something is happening out there. And maybe certain action might be taken concerning our grievances and our cry.

So to give you an update on the events regarding our strike

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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

The protest is about their system of indefinite detention.

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The protest is about their system of indefinite detention.

Inside Yarls Wood, people are on hunger strike – they won’t go to the dining room to eat for 3 days.

They detain people who have appeal rights, who are reporting every month. Why would they detaine people who comply with their rules to go and sign? Especially those who have been in the UK for more than 15 years. And without any notice – not even to your solicitor!

They detain people who came to this country as minors and who are culturally British. They wait until they are 18 and then they are detained. This is due to their parent’s or the lawyer’s failure to do their correct paper work. It’s also due to the Home office delaying things too. The sad thing is, they detain these young people. They don’t even know anything about the country where they are born. Why do they detain them? You keep them here for more than a month, that’s torture enough. And then when they get deported many commit suicide because they are not accepted in any community and they don’t know anyone there. They’ve grown up here, they’ve established their lives here. And then you threaten to deport them to where they are born. What do they know about that country you are taking them to?

[shouting in background] Can you hear how people are angry?

They will tell you that they have proper medical facilities. But you will wait for a month to see a doctor. One instance I have seen is when a wife was having panic attacks because the husband was coughing and throwing up blood. They were separated. The husband is in isolation and the wife is still in yarl’s wood and is still having panic attacks.

After three days of hunger striking, we don’t know what is going to happen. But we have given the Home Office our viewpoints. It is them that put us here, and we expect them to take action to respond to those points.

The people that are out there should approach the Home Office and talk to them. Even if we can approach people in here, no one will do anything because they are part of the home office.

Please take action to talk to the home office. Our voices aren’t heard because we are in here.

This thing of detaining young people who could be the future of Britain. Those kids did nothing to be here. Those people who have been here for 10 years or more there should be given a complete amnesty. We do not depend on benefits we depend on our work and we contribute to the economy of the country where we are now and that is Britain.

People are allowed to work inside the detention centre. In the canteen, serving food, and cleaning. And they pay them £1 per hour or £3 per day. I’m not going to exploit my self for the home office. And I feel bad for those working because they are in need of the right food and they need to buy it. It’s wrong – do they detain you so they can come and work in here and be part of their staff and exploit us?

Help us out there, to get our voices out.

It’s important that people can hear our anger.

The Hunger Strikers’ Demands

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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

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#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?

They have not accepted my wife in this country.

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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.

I came to this country 15 years ago. I have 2 children here.

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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.