National protests against deadly detention
Dave Landau
A Ukrainian asylum seeker at Harmondsworth Removal Centre was found
hanged last Monday 19th July. Some detainees claimed there were rumours
that staff mistreated the Ukrainian, which may not have been an
illogical conclusion to some detainees given the number of alleged
assaults against detainees. A significant disturbance at Harmondsworth
ensued - detainees were transferred to other Removal Centres and to
main-stream prisons.
Days later on Friday 23rd July, a Vietnamese detainee who had been moved
from Harmondsworth to Dungavel Removal Centre hung himself - he was
taken to Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride, where he later died. A
fellow Dungavel detainee is reported to have said that the Vietnamese
man had been detained for over a year and simply gave up hope of being
released.
Campaigners around the country are staging demonstrations this weekend
at those Removal Centres and main-stream prisons, to commemorate the
needless deaths, show solidarity with detainees, and demand an end to
the deadly policy of indefinite detention of men, women and children who
are not accused of any crime.
A few years ago the Home Secretary said “…we will remove the necessity
and practice of anyone claiming asylum being in prison … It is a scandal
that shouldn't have happened. It's time it was over”. It's never been
over ; asylum seekers have continued to be held in prisons - one of
which is HMP Forest Bank, operated by UKDS (the same private profit
making company that operates Harmondsworth Removal Centre).
*** HMP LIVERPOOL (Walton) - Sat. 31st July - 10.00 am
-----------------------------
Meeting point : at the prison - 68 Hornby Road, Liverpool, L93 DF
Contact : Tom Bimpson
tbnw16268@blueyonder.co.uk or Margaret McAdam
margaretacara@aol.com
Directions : opposite Walton train station - Liverpool
to Ormskirk rail-line (MerseyRail)
*** CAMPSFIELD REMOVAL CENTRE - Sat. 31st July - 12.00
midday
----------------------------------------------------
Meeting point : Campsfield gates - Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford,
OX5 1RE
Contact : Bob Hughes -
HughesBob@compuserve.com
*** DOVER REMOVAL CENTRE - Sat. 31st July - 12.00 midday
--------------------------------------------
Meeting point : MacDonalds Car Park, Whitfield
Roundabout on A2 just outside Dover, then move on to Removal Centre
Contact : Kate Adams -
cdas_kent@hotmail.com
Directions : Nearest station is Dover Priory Railway
Station. Trains direct from London Victoria - 10.04
arrives 11.48 am or 10.34 arrives 12.27 pm. Phone if
you need a lift from the station.
Details : Bring Music and a Picnic
*** HMP & YOI FOREST BANK - Sunday 1st August - 1 pm
------------------------------------------
Meeting point ; by the visitor's car park at the prison - Agecroft Road,
Pendlebury, Manchester
Contact : Heather -
simple_things@riseup.net or Emma -
sady_campaign@yahoo.co.uk
Directions : lifts from Chorlton Street bus station by
arrangement (ring first). If you are making your own
way, directions and public transport info -
www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/prisoninformation/locateaprison/prison.asp?id=375,15,2,15,371,0
Details : this is a Noise Demo - bring something to
make a noise with
*** DUNGAVEL REMOVAL CENTRE - Sunday 1st August - 1 pm
--------------------------------------------------
Meeting point : at Dungavel gates - Dungavel House Removal Centre,
Strathaven, ML10 6RF
Contact : Margaret -
glascamref@hotmail.com / fax 0141 946 6111
Directions : very isolated location - bus leaving George Square in
central Glasgow at 12.00 midday prompt.
Details : please bring banners
We ask everyone to participate and any more campaigners thinking of
organising a demo to contact us so that press releases can detail all
demos. We intend to issue a press release and a leaflet and hope that
other demo organisers can use and/or modify this material for their
demo.
Please distribute this email as widely as possible. Many thanks.
Emma -
sady_campaign@yahoo.co.uk
Supporting Campaigns so far …
* No One Is Illegal
* Campaign To Stop Arbitrary Detentions at Yarl's Wood
(SADY)
* Close Campsfield Campaign (CCC)
* Barbed Wire Britain (BWB)
* Merseyside Against Detention (MAD)
* Merseyside Socialist Alliance
* National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns
(NCADC)
* Manchester Committee to Defend Asylum Seekers
(MCDAS)
* Glasgow Campaign to Welcome Refugees
* Positive Action in Housing
* Kent Committee to Defend Asylum Seekers
Other places of detention where detainees have been
transferred to from Harmondsworth include …
Removal Centres : Tinsley House (Gatwick), Haslar (Gosport, Hants),
Lindholme (HMP Lindholme, Doncaster). Main-stream prisons ; HMP
Altcourse (Liverpool), HMP Norwich, HMP Exeter, HMP Shrewsbury, HMP
Highdown (Sutton, Surry), HMP Woodhill (Milton Kynes), HMP Gloucester,
HMP Belmarsh (Thamesmead, London), HMP Wandsworth (London), HMP Elmley (Sherness,
Kent), HMP Wormwood Scrubs (London), HMP Birmingham, HMP Cardiff, HMP
Leeds, HMP Lincoln.
Please note that this list may not be complete as some
information given to us by removal centres and prisons
has been found to be incorrect.
July 2004