We demand an end to Yarl’s Wood injustice

Friends and supporters of people detained at Yarl’s Wood have penned an open letter to the Home Secretary, signed by Caroline Lucas, Ash Sarkar and others.

Dear Amber Rudd MP, Home Secretary,

CC Caroline Nokes MP, Minister of State for Immigration
 
People in detention centres are subject to horrible and unjust conditions in the United Kingdom. When detainees have tried to ask for more humane conditions and a time limit on detention, they have been ignored. Left with few options, many of the people in Yarl's Wood have put their bodies on the line and are taking part in a hunger strike, which has now lasted two weeks.

Everyone outside of these centres has a responsibility to make sure these stories are heard and that the injustice of the detention system is stopped.

That is why this 8 March 2018 - International Women’s Day - hundreds of us will fast for 24 hours, to amplify the legitimate demands of the people at Yarl’s Wood, and to stand with people detained across Britain.

This is some of what protesters in Yarl's Wood and those of us in solidarity with them are calling for:

•We want an end to indefinite detention and a return to the original plan of the 28-day limit.

•We want the Home Office to respect Article 8.

•We want the Home Office to respect the European Convention of Human Rights regarding refugees and asylum seekers.

•We want the Home Office to respect due process and stop deporting people before their cases are decided or appeals are heard.

•We want due processes before we are imprisoned on immigration matters.

•We want a fair bail process and the Home Office to end the process of selective evidence disclosure to the immigration tribunal courts and instead disclosure of all evidence to ensure a fair judgement is reached.

•We want adequate healthcare and especially the mental health nurse to stop operating as an extension of the Home Office asking people such questions as, ‘Did you know you were going to stay in the UK when you entered?’

•We want the Home Office to stop detaining the vulnerable people: victims of rape, all forms of torture, trafficking, forced labour, the disabled, the mentally ill and so on.

•We want amnesty for all people who have lived in the UK for more than 10 years and an end to the exiling of those who came as children and are culturally British.

•We want an end to the Home Office’s practice of employing detainees to do menial work for £1 per hour; it preys on the vulnerable and forces them to participate in their own detention.

•We want an end to charter flights and the snatching of people from their beds in the night and herding them like animals.

Whether people in detention centres are on hunger strike or not, we will not be quiet until justice is done. Immigration detention is gender and institutional violence. You can end this injustice. We hope you will.

Yours Sincerely,

Opelo Kgari, Ash Sarkar, Natalie Clarkson, Ali Johnson, Tatiana Garavito, Caroline Lucas, Jonathan Bartley, Abby Meadows, Richard Raggett, Phoebe Boden, Susana Rivera, Matilda Cunliffe, Lily Sheath, Lucie Kinchin, Jill Berrisford, John Mills, Cora Luscombe, Carolyn Burch, Laura Abbott, Isabella Reynolds, Rajan Naidu, Sheila Bean, Kathleen Grabowski, Giedre, Fraser Flegg, Deborah Safi, Lindsey Gaunt, Caroline Kibblewhite, Al Duffy, Alys Mumford, Peter Beavan, Jessica Rose Stillwell, Rachelle Corker, Nigel Clark, Solveig Bang, Fiona Hitchiner, Mary Robertson, Ron, Michael, Japhet Goodburn, Meg, Nina Thomas, Thomas Drew, Philip, Shannon, Heather Bolton, Kate Thomas, Helen Scott, Ron Tonkin, Juliet Molteno, Georgia Potton, Rachel, Verity Kirk, Felicity Edmond, Robert King, Janet Alty, Rachel Boyd, Yvonne, Steve Kelly, Susan Barton, Judith Baker, Joyce Parker, Adrian, Kirsten, Shari, Tamsin Boden, Lucy Balogh, Sahdya Darr, Sue Peters, Stephanie Webber, Amanie, Hera Lorandos, Martha, Malachi Chadwick, Kate Whitaker, Jess, Connor Woodman, Ursula Nield, Pete, Fiona Girvan, Sophie Antonelli, Jay Gearing, Ellis Brooks, Brian Wardrop, Zoe Rasbash, Georgina Boden, Judith Oxford, Christine Crispin, Sai Murray, Nichola Finch, Lucy, Sara Benjamin, Annie Goh, Linda, Gil Chambers, Rakesh Prashara, Judith Gretton-Dann, Leyli Horna, Yinbo Yu, Valerie Archer, Shenna Sanchez, Elinor Newman-Beckett, Didi, Teresa Piacentini, Sarah Stewart, Veronica, Sophie Broke, Farheen Ahmed, Laura-Jane Smith, Selina Hare, Benjamin Dilloway, Maisie Brett, Emily Austin-Howell, Imogen, Shuwanna Aaron, Natasha Pope, Diana Calthrop, Isabella Lewis, Carolina Bax, Sam G, Benjamin Hitchcock Auciello, Erin Coyle, Aileen Macdonald-Haak, Beth Maiden, Sebastian Ordonez, Matt Elliott, Robyn Hambrook, Rachel Williams, Stefanie Alvarez, Jimena Pardo, M Dumont, Laura, Tanya Hawkes, Claudia Turbet-Delof, John Cooper, Robert Swinfen, Maud, Christine Mcdermott, Yenni, Emma, Casd Howes, Alison Phipps, Stephanie Brookes, Shannon Hodge, Rachel Bowers, Tej Adeleye, Aodhán Ó Casidé, Nic, Daniel, Isobel, Kitty, Charlotte Sullivan, Rob Graham, Daniel Seifu, Derren, Blue Maignien, Alice Denison, Jemma Martin-Lee, Rosanna, Alena Ivanova, Sarah Gould, Gill, Margot Melville, Clare Sawdon-Smith, Beth Spender, Tania Longman, Janet, Alex Smith, Naiara Bazin Lopez, Isabelle, Ilyas Nagdee, Amina Gichinga, Grace Henderson, Gareth Rae, Carole Jones, Maya Goodfellow, Libby Ruffle, Rebecca, Henna Shah, Emma Mcnally, Felipe Bustos Sierra, Bridget, Karris Hamilton, Jodie, Bethany Field, Ellie, Molly Budgen, Jemima Bisset, Sensi, Bethan Cansfield, Martin Berger, Joanne Krus, Marienna Pope-Weidemann, Lily Wakeley, Mat, Patricia Jane Widdess, Joshua Letts, Gabriel, Loz H, Chris Swann, Angela Miller, Danna, Tessa Carias, Elle Zaninetti, Clem Mcculloch, Robert Kazandjian, Nathan Lee, Eleanor Covell, Sagal Mohamed, Michelle Lowe, Simon Lidgate, Fergus, Barry Shapiro, Kelly, Lucy, Sarah Perry, Sarah, Susie Jewell, Rosa Wild, Nick Davis, Rosalind Parker, Georgi York, Sarah Jewell, Evin, Helen Thickett, Shrouk El-Attar, Frances Ryde, Mayada, Rebecca Ayre, Iona, Rina M, Helen Erasmus, Chris Lord, Eva, Rory, Cindy O’Connor, Sam Donaldson, Melanie Ndzinga, Amy Downing, Hannah, David Gammon, Yoseph Ahmed, Lucy Warin, Sarah Whitaker, Rita Issa, Roisin Breen, Raquel Fonseca, Miranda Shaw, Kelly S, Louise, Katy Sian, Eadaoin, Maeve Slattery, Bridget Walker, Laura, Nicole Baughan, Shingai, Milly, Rosa, Negar Elodie Behzadi, Cassie Harvey-Smith, Fred Ashmore, Hilary Cornish, Sheherbano, Marta Lomza, Juan Anali, Scott Boeser, Thomas Davidson, Kathryn O'Reilly, Sophie, Lucille, Garance Pellet, Bevan, James Mckay, Lynne, Elinor Milne, Janet Veitch, UWE Feminist Society, Shelley Bligh-Wall, Siobhan Finnegan, Alison Wilde, Jean Stanley, Sonja Shah, Philippa Faulkner, Laura Wirtz, Sam, Daniel, Andrea, Veecca Smith Uka, Illa, Zoe Young, Marianna Musset, Peninah  Wangari-Jones, Sumaya, Jemimah Woodbridge, Ajay Chandra, Judith Lorton, Oliver Robertson, Imogen, Lillian Ava, Benjamin Lewis Milton, Anna Benedikz, Isobella Dm, Beth Martin, Stephanie, Nusha, Susanna, Sarah Twigg, Ruby Elson, Hannah Smith, Gabriel, Jilna Shah, Sohail, Juliette Daigre, Alex, Phoebe Nicholson, Kate Hobson, Liz Layton, Angela Camacho, Mia, Emma Hughes, Shilpa, Sean Mckenna, Suki Ferguson, Ornella, Diana Jeater, Florah Keller-Cooper, Ottilie Wilford, Sam Williams, Hannah Lawrence, Tanzil Chowdhury, Chris, Shabana, Pollyanna, Christabel Buchanan, Tom Godwin, Rachel Kennerley, Kim Bryan, David Mccoy, Ali Avery, Lauren Brabbs, Taisha Pickering, Helen Cutteridge, Rebekah Speirs, Shaun, Tim Gee, Marcela Teran, Francesca Parkes, Biz Bliss, Tom Smith, Poppy Camus-Doughan, Katherine Wimhurst, Lise Masson, Sean McArthur, Paul Stanway, Bebhinn Latol, Karina Hernandez, Remi Joseph-Salisbury & more…

Please tweet this open letter to @AmberruddHR and @CarolineNokes and show your support.