On Wednesday 21st of February a large group of women and men held in Yarl’s Wood Immigration Detention Centre organised a coordinated 3-day hunger strike. The demands have been posted on the Detained Voices website.
This post first appeared on the SOAS Detainee Support website.
The demands of the strikers include:
- Amnesty for those who have lived in the UK 10 years and above
- End indefinite detention – Detention periods shouldn’t be longer than 28 days
- End Charter flights – Charter flights are inhumane because there are no prior notifications, or only an oral notification with no warning. They give no time to make arrangements with family.
- No more re-detention – Redention should not be allowed – if you have been detained once, you should not be re-detained if you are complying with the laws they have applied. This is a contradiction, you are being punished for complying with the law; it ruins the whole purpose of expecting compliance.
“After an initial 3 day hunger strike where the Home Office refused to acknowledge the hunger strike, it is clear that they are not listening to us. On Monday 26/02/18, we will cease to participate in detention, we will not eat, use their facilities or work for them.”Here are a number of ways those of us on the outside can support the protests:
- Sign the Petition – calling on the Home Office to grant the demands of Yarl’s Wood strikers.
- Send a letter to you MP outlining what the strikers are calling for. Use this template, use the Write to Them website.
- Tweet Solidarity photos – tweet, retweet and share photos holding signs of support for Yarl’s Wood strikers, and share using hashtag #HUNGERFORFREEDOM
- Attend the Demo in London – Emergency protest outside the Home Office on Wednesday. Here are the details.