Protests in London for Yarl's Wood hunger strikers

While it’s a bit far away for any SSY members who aren’t living in exile down south to make, there’s an important protest in London tomorrow against the brutal treatment of women detained in Yarl’s Wood Imigration Removal Centre.

Since February 5th over 50 women in the centre had been on hunger strike in protest against their detention and conditions. On Tuesday guards went in to break the protest up violently. Many were “kettled”, that is trapped by guards, in a small airless corridor for 8 hours with no access to food, water or toilet facilities. Others were trapped outside in snow for hours without warm clothes or shoes. Emergency services were denied access to the centre, and the women have been unable to access medical treatment.

But most shocking have been the reports of abuse by the guards. There has been widespread verbal racial abuse, as well as brutal physical assaults that left one woman unable to stand and another with a finger nearly severed.

Cristel Amiss, of Black Women’s Rape Action Project, told The Guardian: “Over 70% of women in Yarl’s Wood are rape survivors, many are sick and vulnerable. Why are they being punished for raising serious injustices?”

Yarl’s Wood, which is just outside Clapham in Bedfordshire, is a privately run facility controlled by a genuine British 21st Century evil megacorporation, Serco Group. As well as running detention centres and private prisons, they operate electronic tagging services, airports on behalf of the occupation in Iraq, provide fleet support to the navy and run an unprecedented private contract for the maintenance of the UK’s Anti Ballistic Missile System at RAF Fylingdales. They’ve been called the biggest company you’ve never heard of, because behind the scenes they are slowly taking over a whole raft of things the state used to do.

Yarl’s Wood holds 405 women and children in detention, usually awaiting deportation back to countries which they have fled for their lives. Since it opened in 2001 it has been a site of constant protests and hunger strikes. Between 2002 and 2003 it was closed for over a year following a fire.

Today (Thursday 11th) activists in support of the women are taking part in a running protest at their treatment, culminating in a previously planned mass demo tomorrow outside Serco’s offices in London, which are at:

18-22 Hand Court (off High Holborn), London, WC1V 6JF.