[IMC-UK-Features] urgent feature proposal: Yarl's Wood hunger strike

Thu Jun 18 08:47:50 PDT 2009

On Wed, June 17, 2009 6:59 pm, Shiar wrote:
> Here's the abstract. I'll put the content together in the morning (need to
> go thru loads of emails to get the details right and i'm really knackered
> now).

Here's the rest of the feature.

-- 
Shiar

Content:

<h3>Yarl's Wood</h3>

On Monday, 15th June, Yarl's Wood detainees decided unanimously to start a
hunger strike over their inhumane conditions and refused to go to dinner.
As the hunger strike continued on Tuesday, the managers of the prison met
up to "see what to do," preventing detainees from speaking to visitors and
reporters. Later on, detainees were denied access to the Internet and the
library.

On Wednesday, 17th June, all the detained families left their rooms and
staged a sit-in in the corridors. They had collectively prevented the
deportation of a family the day before and were determined to continue to
prevent any other attempts to deport any other families. The parents were
all refusing food and children were being fed with purchases from the
shop.

About 4pm, between 30 and 40 Serco guards came in and started to remove
all men involved in the protest and separate them from the women and
children. Detainees reported that excessive force was used to do this. Two
women, who had their cloths ripped off, were also violently removed. A
guard was reportedly seen filming one of the semi-naked women. The husband
of one of the women was injured and bleeding. In the struggle, her child,
aged 19 months, fell from her back and was stepped on by one of the
guards. Another detainee, who had spoken to the press and put out a
statement calling for support for the hunger strike, was also violently
assaulted by the guards. A migrant support worker was on the phone to the
wife of Solomon Ojehonmon when he and other men were being attacked.

One of the women detainees, who had been snatched from Newcastle on
Friday, told a supporter from TCAR: "I have never ever seen such
violence. They were beating the men like they were animals. They say if we
dare to go back into the corridor they will spray us all over [with pepper
spray]. We need your help from outside. We don't have any rights in here.
We need your support from outside."

By the end of Wednesday, at least two men, two women and two children had
been removed from the wing. Their whereabouts are still unknown. All women
are still on hunger strike. Doctors have not been allowed access to
examine the injuries, some of which are reportedly severe.

Shamelessly, a UK Border Agency spokesperson said in a press release:
"Officers have separated a small number of detainees from the general
population at Yarls Wood Immigration Removal Centre. This was conducted by
staff trained in conflict resolution... This separation was conducted with
the utmost sensitivity and there have been no injuries to detainees." The
lies, of course, were echoed by mainstream media reports, such as those by
the BBC, without any scrutiny.

<h3>Why</h3>

Many of those detained at Yarl's Wood have been there for months.
Children, women and men are traumatised and humiliated on a daily basis.
Many of them, including pregnant women, have medical conditions but are
not receiving proper medical attention. For example, a woman suffering
from haemorrhaging (constant bleeding) was taken into hospital, then
brought back into detention. Another woman suffers from epilepsy but is
not receiving proper medical care. She is often found on the floor after
her child is taken to eat. Many of the children at Yarl's Wood suffer from
restlessness and disease, crying and screaming all night.

In statement circulated by campaigners, the detainees summarised their
'points of protest' as follows:

1. Children, some as young as five months old, in this detention are sick.
Most were struck down with virus, they are not eating properly since they
are not used to the food here, not sleeping properly, restless and suffer
other psychological manifestations including nightmares, bedwetting,
screaming at night, violent behaviours and other emotional outbursts like
crying etc.

2. A recently bereaved family of three, who lost their twins and buried
[them] just about a month ago, [are] being detained and [have been] given
removal directions without even a chance to say farewell to the grave at
Everton cemetery, where three of their children are buried.

3. Pregnant women, some with complications, are detained with total
disregard of their well-being, including a pregnant lady, who is also
suffering from depression and anxiety.

4. A lady recently went through a major life-threatening operation for
ectopic pregnancy a couple of months ago, and now detained without even
sufficient time to recover.

5. An epileptic lady who suffers multiple seizures, up to six times in a
twenty-four hour period, with only a 14-year-old son to look after her.
The occupants tried to assist in such distressing times.

6. Families in considerable distress [are] being plucked out of their beds
early in the morning and transported in mobile prisons for long hours to
the airport.

7. The continuing detention has placed considerable stress on families
and, as such, we have decided to rise with a single voice and say no to
detention of innocent people.

8. Hence, this is the second day of a continuing hunger-strike. Also
tonight [Tuesday, 16th June], all occupants here, with the children, have
decided to spend the night protesting outside [in the court yard].

9. We will appreciate any help and advice we can get from you.

<h3>Brook House</h3

Late in the evening of Friday, 12th June, a group of detainees locked in
Brook House, the new detention centre at Gatwick airport, refused to be
locked in and started rioting. The reason is unknown but has possibly to
do with some Iraqi nationals being given removal directions (deportation
orders) for the next specially chartered mass deportation flight to Iraqi
Kurdistan.

According to reports from detainees, there were apparently very few Duty
Custody Officers (or G4S security guards) on duty at the time, so they
quickly removed themselves from the wing as soon as the 'trouble' started.
Some detainees, however, were locked into their cells, whilst others were
able to move freely around the wing. Guards did not regain control until
around 6am the following morning, when police in riot gear (Tornado teams)
were drafted in to take back the occupied areas.

During the night, many of the cells were reportedly damaged, as well as
the wing's administration office. Mattresses and bedding were burnt and a
quite large fire was set in the yard outside. There were apparently no
serious injuries but there was a significant amount of damage done to the
A Wing, which is now closed.

Many of the detainees were locked in their cells for more than 24 hours
during the disturbance. They reportedly received only an apple and a
Kitkat all day, before they were moved onto other wings on Sunday evening.