Yarl’s Wood Hunger Strike
At least fifty women have gone on hunger strike in protest against their detention and conditions at Yarl’s Wood detention centre in Bedfordshire, which houses 405 women and children.
This not the first hunger strike at Yarl’s Wood. Parents detained in the centre went on hunger strike in 2006 in a desperate bid to draw attention to the sufferings of their children and a mass hunger strike broke out in 2009 (and met with violent assaults on detainees by Serco security guards).
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.
To end all false allegations and misrepresentations by the UKBA regarding detainees in order to refuse bail or temporary admissions.
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.
To stop the forceful removal and degrading system of deportation of detainees.
To put law into practise, European rules governing standard of conditions of detention for migrants and asylum seekers and the length of time in detention.
The abolition of detention for asylum seeker and torture victims.
Detention should be by a standard procedure prescribed by law, authorised by judicial authority and be subjected to periodic judicial reviews.
To end the detention of children and their mothers, rape survivors and other torture victims, to end the detention of physically, mentally sick people and pregnant women for long period of time.
To end the separation of children from their mothers being detained whether in detention or destitution.
To end the detention of women detention after serving time in prison.
To 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.
To end the repeat detention of women granted temporary admission while reporting or signing after a short period out of detention.
*To a set period of time allowed to detain women, which should be no longer than 1 month, while waiting decision either from UKBA or court proceedings.
Finally instead of detention of foreign nationals, there are alternatives to detention stated by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).