Yarl's Wood women enter third week of hunger strike
Yarl's Wood women enter third week of hunger strike
Twenty women remain on hunger strike at Yarl’s Wood detention centre despite the long-term risks to their health and well-being, the Guardian reported on 21st February.
The hunger strike, which began two and a half weeks ago, was initiated by over eighty women protesting against their indefinite detention. The strike escalated on 8th February when several women were locked in a corridor inside Yarl’s Wood whilst others were trapped outside in the cold. Several women claim they have suffered racial and physical abuse, and others were imprisoned.
Dr Frank Arnold from the Medical Justice Network was quoted as saying that the hunger strike is reaching a point at which the women risk damaging their internal organs. One woman is reported as being on the verge of renal failure. However, the women refuse to give up.
Victoria Odeleye, a hunger striker from Nigeria, said: "We are weak and tired but we are still going to continue because people need to know what is happening here."
The Testimony Project calls for swift action from the UKBA to meet the following demands of the hunger strikers:
- End the frustrations, physical and mental torture at the centre.
- Allow enough time and make resources available to residents who need to fully present their cases.
- End all false allegations and misrepresentations by the UKBA regarding detainees in order to refuse bail or temporary admissions.
- Provide access to appropriate medical treatment and care as in the community, access to edible and well cooked food, phones with good mobile connections, with camera and recording facilities to back up cases.
- Stop the forceful removal and degrading system of deportation of detainees.
- Put law into practice, including European rules governing standard of conditions of detention for migrants and asylum seekers and the length of time in detention.
- Abolish detention for asylum seeker and torture victims.
- Ensure detention follows standard procedures prescribed by law, is authorised by judicial authority and is subjected to periodic judicial reviews.
- End the detention of children and their mothers, rape survivors and other torture victims, as well as the detention of physically, mentally sick people and pregnant women for long period of time.
- End the separation of children from their mothers being detained whether in detention or destitution.
- End the detention of women after serving time in prison.
- Abolish the fast track system, in order to give asylum seekers a fair chance with their application, while understanding the particular needs of victims of torture, and access to reliable legal representation which the fast track system denies.
- End the repeat detention of women granted temporary admission while reporting or signing after a short period out of detention.
- Set a period of time allowed to detain women, which should be no longer than 1 month, while waiting decision either from UKBA or court proceedings.
- Employ alternatives to detention stated by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).