Yarls Wood

When I was detained, I told them I was pregnant.

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I’m pregnant and I’ve been in detention for almost 2 months. I’m not supposed to be detained for this long but I’ve been here for a long time now.

My appeal was allowed, it was successful at first and the Home Office appealed. Then I got refused. I appealed and when I went to report I was detained. I was considered appeal rights exhausted even though my appeal was still on. When I was detained, I told them I was pregnant. They said I could still fly up to 9 months which is not the law – I haven’t seen it any where.

I got given a ticket about 2 weeks ago for this Saturday. I didn’t go on Saturday – I was told by the solicitor it was cancelled I the afternoon. But they still came for me in the morning saying I had to go to reception. I told them I wasn’t going. We didn’t know whether they would try to use force. I was so stressed at that point so I didn’t know what to do. They didn’t come for me in the end.

I don’t know what is going to happen now – I put in for an asylum claim and they’ve said the Home Office will be in touch. I’m still waiting in Yarl’s Wood.

Since I’ve been in this place – yes I’ve had medical checks – but I’ve not been properly looked after. I got pregnancy vitimins only after a month. I’m suffering from depression and since I’ve been here they’ve stopped my medication without telling me why. When I booked in I told them I was on this medication but they didn’t give it to me and didn’t check if I needed it. They stopped it without informing me about it.

The food is not appropriate for my condition – it’s really poor in nutrients. I have both sickness and cravings but I can’t get what I want. It’s rice and potatoes and bread everyday. I just try to do what I can but it’s really poor. Even the medical staff will agree with me. They say they hope I’ll be out soon so they know themselves its wrong but they’re not doing anything about it.

This is my first child – on the outside, I was going to get ante-natal classes to prepare myself for my first child. I asked them for books and readings. It’s been over a month now and they haven’t got back to me. It just seems like it doesn’t matter. It feels like I’m already failing as a mum even though the baby hasn’t come yet. What if the baby gets here and I’m not ready. Not just physically but mentally prepared. It’s really frustrating.

They shouldn’t detain pregnant women. They shouldn’t detain anyone at all. I won’t just talk for myself because I’m pregnant. It’s unfair for anyone. This is mental torture, it’s physical as well. It’s like you’re stuck in someplace and people are asking for things you can’t do – evidence, for example. If you’re on your own in here you can’t get it. You come in when you’re healthy but it’s not good for you. I will get out of here and I’ll be more mentally ill than I was before. I’ve not had a good day since I’ve been in here. Even when you’re trying to cope, to settle yourself. There’s always something they will do to remind you that you’re not free. That you’re controlled by somebody.

They’ve already started snatching women.

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There is a charter flight tonight to Nigeria, Ghana, and Jamaica. They’ve already started snatching women. You’ll be walking around and they’ll snatch you and put you in a room so that you can’t talk to anyone. We were in the chapel and we were locked in there. They asked this one young girl to come out and this girl’s mum she has a British passport.

These are public funds being wasted on human beings being forced on this flight. They won’t even let you pack your bag.

This is meant to be a detention centre for women. We don’t have proper boxes to put sanitary towels. There are 5 washing machines and 4 dyers for 60 women. The water fountain is in the washing in washing room. The standard of hygiene is ridiculous.

The main thing is the charter flight. People cannot be snatched like you’re going hunting. They’ve got targets to meet, this is a contracts with the home office. So they’ll do anything to meet them.

Last month they dragged someone naked out of their room. 4 officers did it. Two men and two women.

On Saturday another lady got beat up in the so called safe unit.  She was an ex-drug user. She got put into a room with someone who had drugs. She got taken to the ‘so-called’ safe unit. In that unit, other detainees beat her up in the safe unit. The staff weren’t aware of it.

They are locking up normal human beings who could be working like normal people. When you get here they ask whether you want to apply for a job in here. Why should we be able to work in here when you can’t work outside. We are women, want to have normal lives like other women.

I’m not on the flight. I came to the UK to train as a nurse. I’m a trained nurse. Look at the NHS, they need us. I had some immigration trouble since 2006 and have been trying to correct it since then. I was detained in 2009. Now I’m back. It’s just not justified. All it is, is ticking boxes.

Today there was a fire in Yarl’s Wood

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Basically today there was a fire in Yarl’s Wood when I was working in the kitchen as a serving assistant there and there was an explosion in the kitchen and they said to evacuate. And when we went outside there was smoke everywhere. And it was now we have to eat our lunches, we are getting baguettes only, at half past two. Apparently, it was a chips set on fire.

I’m not sure if it was an accident because I wasn’t where the chefs were cooking. We all had to evacuate because where the chefs cook there is one door away from where we serve. One door. So we had to evacuate the place, everyone had to leave the building. It was a proper fire. At the moment they are telling us to stay in our rooms.

There were no fire brigade There was only staff there. Two or three staff. And they had a fire extinguisher. No one got hurt, not at the moment no.

What I think they should of done is to take us to the nearest fire assembly point because that’s the nearest exist. But instead they told us to walk all the way down to our gardens. The fire assembly is upstairs unless you are downstairs the you should leave and go to the nearest garden. That’s meant to be the procedure. Instead they told us to go to our rooms and keep behind our doors that says fire exit keep shut.

I want a lot of people to know that the procedures were exiting to our nearest assembly rather than walking us down where there was more danger. And the fire brigade should be called in to get rid of the smoke and the fire. Obviously this didn’t happen and thank God no one got hurt.

The charter flight is for today

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Basically, the charter flight is for today and they’re trying to get us on the flight. But here lies the problem. We all know very well, according to the rules anyway, if they want to take us they have to get travel documents for all of us. But then they have already issued travel certificates for everybody without anybody actually signing for it. How does that work? Obviously there have been allegations this week against the home office and against the Nigerian embassy about, you know bribary, to make sure she issues travel documents for people without their knowledge, you understand what I mean. According to the information we are getting, each person gets £3000. Basically, all of us have been sold to the British Government to do whatever they wants to do to us.

We’ve been very calm. We’ve asked them can you get the home office to explain how they’ve got travel documents for us when we didn’t sign for it. Obviously that’s fraud because I haven’t signed for anything. How are we supposed to follow the rules and regulation when those rules and regulations of the Home Office clearly doesn’t apply to them. They actually break the law on a regular basis. They bribe people on a regular basis.

Half of the people on the flight today have family here. They shouldn’t be going to Nigeria in the first place. I left Nigeria 17 years ago, right, I was 9 years old when I left Nigeria. I had only really lived in Nigeria for 6 years. And you are telling me it’s okay you can go back there. To where?

We are just sat in the room basically. We are waiting for the officers to forcefully remove us. We are just in the room waiting. Because at the end of the day, they haven’t answered our questions.

They want me to be scared of my enemy? Im not scared of my enemy! Who’s immigration?!

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What happened on Saturday – we never see it in the news. And yesterday it was very very hard and the immigration officer was right here in the landing and they locked everyone up who was protesting. Not a normal officer in the landing, he was the head of immigration officers. He was in the landing he was writing the women names down that were protesting and it will probably be sent to immigration. We speak to him, ‘Why are you coming to our rooms? Why are you writing us down?’ The came into my room and said I had three t-shirts and I was only allowed one. I said they are my t-shirts, my t-shirts I can have 10 t-shirts if i want. It is not Yarl’s Wood’s t-shirt, it is mine they have no right to come into my room and take my t-shirt. They were recording me with a video camera. They told me they were recording me, I said thats fine they can record me. Protests are not illegal, we are just protesting. Anyone can protest, its not a crime. If people are not happy about something they can protest. They said they were recording me, I said ‘for what?’ They are not supposed to be in my room in the first place. These people who we don’t even know, they are outside supporting us. You want me to be scared because there is an officer in my room? These people are here to support us and I need to support them too. They want me to be scared of my enemy? Im not scared of my enemy! Who’s immigration?! 

They are putting everything in my file, it is definitely going to be there. They are trying to make me look bad person to go in my file and make be look bad in front of the judge. I saw a girl who was going to hospital and I asked if they were handcuffed. They handcuff the girls who are protesting. They handcuff me when they take me to hospital. They are looking for an excuse and say my behaviour is not acceptable cos I shout ‘FREEDOM FREEDOM’ when I go to hospital. 

They say I am encouraging th other girls to do protest. I am not encouraging anyone to protest. These girls are not 15, they are women. They are trying to put it in my file that i am head of the protest but I’m not. 

I feel discriminated. I was very surprised they were in the landing. They know I was in prison for violence and they are trying to make me look like a bad person. I haven’t been violent since I’ve been here. I feel very discriminated against. I am stressed and sad. 

I am a student here.

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I am a student here. I would love to talk to the immigration minister about what really happened with us. The college fooled us. It wasn’t a college even – just a small space and had 8 subjects and only two people teaching. It was suspended two times and now it’s been removed. We wasted our money and our time and that’s why I’m here. I’ve been here for a week and 6 days.

Everybody is talking about discrimination – but if you put complaints in but nothing will happen. There is so much discrimination here – they say they are treating you as a normal person but that won’t happen. They always have in their mind that these people are detainees and they have done something wrong. You have to have officers open the door and they say they are coming but they make you wait 5 minute or 10 minutes every time. This is just a small example that comes to mind.

I was among the detainees also protesting making a lot of noise I was holding a towel

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Yesterday I used the phone to call, I was among the detainees also protesting making a lot of noise I was holding a towel, I was making so much noise. I really appreciate what you guys are doing. But the problems in this house are so bad, we are Africans there are foods we don’t eat but they don’t give us good food. If you have a complaint they won’t listen they just tell you to write it down. If you go to hospital with a complaint they will not put it down on your record they will say something else. It is like they are trying to hide something.

They pick people who don’t have money to pay for lawyers, they pick people who don’t have money. My roommate doesn’t have money to even follow the documents she doesn’t even have lawyer she doesn’t even know where to start. So it is unfair.

I had an Indian girl who was my roommate before. When they took her from the house they took her card from her and she doesn’t have anyone here, no mother, she said she that being here is even better because she had no one she is doing nothing about her case just crying her head off, so they take someone like this back to their country. They wake you up at midnight maybe 2am and if you refuse they shut all the doors and they drag you out.

There was one lady who was here she was having problems with her mind, we don’t know where she is now, they say is she underground and nobody knows, this is breaking our hearts.

Me, I came here from the airport and they asked me who my husband was, he wasn’t here to pick me up, so I have to go to court, so now I’m here, so if my husband is not coming then I have no one to support me.  At the moment I can’t sleep – my heart. I shouldn’t suffer because my husband is having problems with me. I did not just get my papers easily, when we put in the application I went to court and they granted it to me.  But because he did not come to identify his face they take me. I think as a human right it is not fair for us. A lot of people are losing their life here. People are
falling sick. It’s torture. It really is torture.

I went to the salon to get my hair done in Croydon.

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I went to the salon to get my hair done in Croydon. The Immigration officers came in and asked for our papers. I felt like I wanted to fall down and die because I didn’t have them. They took my prints and they said I’ve been here since 2007 and asked why I don’t want to go home. Well I have no one at home. They put handcuffs on me and the man said I was rude. But I didn’t want to run away because I was scarred: there were like 8 officers inside the shop. I wanted to go to weewee but I couldn’t go –  I weeweed on my trousers there in the shop. So I was cold I needed my jumper. And then they told me I was a liar and that I wasn’t cold. And they put me on the van and took me to home office in Croydon and then to Heathrow for three days.

I had a bad ulcer and they gave me some medicine to take and then they took me to yarls wood. They give us chips but I’m not meant to eat chips. It’s so hard for me to eat because what I want to eat is not here. They don’t want to do anything about. They’re not giving people tickets anymore. They’re not giving information. Now they come in the night they will tell you they are waiting and tell you to pack.

The protest was very nice. I loved it. My prayer is to let the doors come open and so people can see what is happening here. They treat us like slaves. That’s what is happening here. We want our freedom and we want Nigeria to stop issuing travel documents. I have been here 8 years, I’ve lost my brother and lost my dad who are in the UK, I don’t have any family in Nigeria.