It seems that Phil Woolas has put his foot in in/run off at the mouth/jumped the gun/got hold of the wrong end of the stick/spilt the beans/made a fopar/made a faux pas* yet again when he announced the 'plans' for the building of a internment camp for migrants in the Calais area. (see Wednesday's post)
In response to his pronouncements, there have been what can only be politely labelled as mixed signals coming from France. These range from a rather strange version of 'No Comment' from Eric Besson, where he denied that they were plans to build a new Sangatte(!), to an out right "Not in my backyard" by an unnamed French official.
It seems that, despite courting publicity in the first days after his appointment (see 28 January post), Besson now wants to avoid being associated with the controversy that Woolas' comments have sparked in France.
Of course some of this new reticence may be linked to the publicity surrounding Besson's reaction to the release of Philippe Lioret's film 'Welcome', which makes a direct comparison between the ordeal experienced by many migrants in France and the plight of Jews in Nazi-occupied France during the Second World War. Besson claimed that Lioret has "crossed a red line" using such a comparison, which he claimed was used only in an effort to generate publicity for the film. However the French public don't seem to see it that way, and the film itself has sparked a country-wide debate over the fate of the Calais migrants, as well as being a box-office hit.
*delete as non-applicable.
Friday, 20 March 2009
Thursday, 19 March 2009
Brook House Opens As Tinsley House Goes On Hunger Strike
Yesterday Jacqui Smith ceremonially opened Brook House, the latest privately run (G4S in this case) Immigration Prison to be built in the UK. The 426 bed Category B style building brings the UK detention estate up to 3,038 places, with a further 1300 in the pipeline.
Yet all is not going smoothly in G4S's latest venture. All the inmates at Tinsley House, 750m up the South Perimeter Road at Gatwick Airport, have been on hunger strike for 2 days due to changes in the meal system introduced since Brook House became operational. Their meals are now cooked in the kitchens of Brook House to save G4S a few quid and help maximise their profits.
This has resulted in the Tinsley inmates having to order their meals 48 hours in advance and the food is cold and they receive much smaller portions than they had previously (more cost cutting?). Still, atleast Jacqui Smith can sleep happier in her nice comfortable bed (see BBC news clip for a look inside a Brook House cell - sorry 'room' as the UKBA newspeak labels them) knowing that all those 'foreign criminals' will be getting reduced portions of their just desserts.
Yet all is not going smoothly in G4S's latest venture. All the inmates at Tinsley House, 750m up the South Perimeter Road at Gatwick Airport, have been on hunger strike for 2 days due to changes in the meal system introduced since Brook House became operational. Their meals are now cooked in the kitchens of Brook House to save G4S a few quid and help maximise their profits.
This has resulted in the Tinsley inmates having to order their meals 48 hours in advance and the food is cold and they receive much smaller portions than they had previously (more cost cutting?). Still, atleast Jacqui Smith can sleep happier in her nice comfortable bed (see BBC news clip for a look inside a Brook House cell - sorry 'room' as the UKBA newspeak labels them) knowing that all those 'foreign criminals' will be getting reduced portions of their just desserts.
Wednesday, 18 March 2009
New UK-Funded Detention Centre For Calais?
Calais is back in the news with the British government's latest attempt to externalise it's migration controls. Plans are afoot to try and rush through a new agreement to build a new large sized detention centre in the Calais area to supplement the Croquelles CRE, ahead of a planned UK-French immigration summit at the end of next month.
Having already won a major victory over the poor deluded Rosbifs with the closure of Sangatte in 2002*, Sarkozy is planning on stiffing les Rosbifs with the majority of the bill for the new detention centre. This detention centre would also be a staging point for mass deportation flights back to Iraq and Afghanistan, this is despite the UK being left standing at the altar the last time that they tried to organise a joint deportation flight back to Afghanistan with the French**
The Labour Party's own junior Enoch Powell, Phil Woolas, broke the news at Monday's session of the Home Affairs Select Committee, "We want to increase the profile of the deportations because we have to get the message back to Afghanistan and Iraq that Britain is not the Promised Land." Clearly the Labour Party no longer plan to build Jerusalem in England's green and pleasant land. Well atleast not for Johnnie Foreigner anyway.
This may also explain the strange 'humanitarian' noises that we reported on 13 March as emanating from Eric Besson. He was obviously trying to sugar in advance a particularly bitter pill for the migrants and the support groups in Calais.
*Basically Sarkozy, who was the French immigration minister at the time, managed to not only get the UK to take the lion's share of the migrants in Sangatte at the time of it's closure, to pay for most of the £4.9M fence around the SNCF depot at Frethum at the same time and to greatly tighten the UK's immigration policy, but he also managed to set a right-wing agenda for the French immigration debate and ultimately landed himself the French presidency.
**see: the 18 Nov 2008 post
Having already won a major victory over the poor deluded Rosbifs with the closure of Sangatte in 2002*, Sarkozy is planning on stiffing les Rosbifs with the majority of the bill for the new detention centre. This detention centre would also be a staging point for mass deportation flights back to Iraq and Afghanistan, this is despite the UK being left standing at the altar the last time that they tried to organise a joint deportation flight back to Afghanistan with the French**
The Labour Party's own junior Enoch Powell, Phil Woolas, broke the news at Monday's session of the Home Affairs Select Committee, "We want to increase the profile of the deportations because we have to get the message back to Afghanistan and Iraq that Britain is not the Promised Land." Clearly the Labour Party no longer plan to build Jerusalem in England's green and pleasant land. Well atleast not for Johnnie Foreigner anyway.
This may also explain the strange 'humanitarian' noises that we reported on 13 March as emanating from Eric Besson. He was obviously trying to sugar in advance a particularly bitter pill for the migrants and the support groups in Calais.
*Basically Sarkozy, who was the French immigration minister at the time, managed to not only get the UK to take the lion's share of the migrants in Sangatte at the time of it's closure, to pay for most of the £4.9M fence around the SNCF depot at Frethum at the same time and to greatly tighten the UK's immigration policy, but he also managed to set a right-wing agenda for the French immigration debate and ultimately landed himself the French presidency.
**see: the 18 Nov 2008 post
9 Arrested After Tinsley Blockade
9 anti-deportation campaigners from the group 'Stop Deportation' were arrested yesterday during the blockade of Tinsley House IRC at Gatwick Airport. 6 of the activists had either locked or super-glued themselves on to the gates at Tinsley to try and prevent the removal of deportees scheduled to be flown back to Iraqi Kurdistan.
The blockade, which managed to stop a number G4S vans from leaving, was ended by police after approximately 6 hours and this unfortunately left enough time for the deportees to be taken to Stanstead for the removal flight.
For more details, see the London No Borders website
The blockade, which managed to stop a number G4S vans from leaving, was ended by police after approximately 6 hours and this unfortunately left enough time for the deportees to be taken to Stanstead for the removal flight.
For more details, see the London No Borders website
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Tinsley House IRC Blockaded
At 7 am this morning 4 women and 3 men D-locked and superglued themselves to the main gates of Tinsley House IRC at Gatwick Airport in an attempt to prevent the forced* mass expulsion of around 50 Iraqi refugees.
A special deportation charter flight is scheduled to leave Stanstead airport to Iraqi Kurdistan (northern Iraq) later today. If it goes ahead, it will be the eighth time in the last eight months that people have been deported to Iraq by charter flight.
Unlike many other European countries, the UK government is refusing to ratify Protocol 4 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits the collective expulsion of foreigners. The Home Office also claims that Kurdistan is 'safe' but recent deportees have committed suicide, been kidnapped and been killed in car bombs. It is particularly dangerous at the moment as political in-fighting intensifies in the run-up to the regional elections.
One of the protesters, Brian Arcola, said: "Charter flights like this are the latest step in the government's macabre immigration policy. Aside from the ethical implications of handcuffing and deporting innocent people under the threat of the baton, by not telling them when they're going to be deported they deprive many people from adequate legal representation. If there's to be any truth in the claim that Britain is a tolerant, fair country, this has got to be stopped."
One of the deportees, whose real name cannot be used for his own security if he goes back to Iraq, said earlier on the phone: "I've been in the UK for nine years. I have a partner and an 18-month-old son. If I am deported, all this will be gone. I've made a life for myself here, living as everyone else does in this country, but I'm now being treated like I'm a criminal, imprisoned then deported." He added: "I left Iraq originally because my life was threatened by a radical Islamic group. That same group is now more powerful than they were before. I won't be safe, I won't be safe."
Another Iraqi refugees, who was deported last month and prefers to keep anonymous, said: "I don't know when I'll see my partner or my daughter again. I speak to them in tears on the phone every night. I am still in shock after being sent back. I have had to change my name so I'm not targeted by the same people who threatened to kill me before. My entire world has caved in."
*Each deportee is handcuffed and accompanied by two security guards.
A special deportation charter flight is scheduled to leave Stanstead airport to Iraqi Kurdistan (northern Iraq) later today. If it goes ahead, it will be the eighth time in the last eight months that people have been deported to Iraq by charter flight.
Unlike many other European countries, the UK government is refusing to ratify Protocol 4 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits the collective expulsion of foreigners. The Home Office also claims that Kurdistan is 'safe' but recent deportees have committed suicide, been kidnapped and been killed in car bombs. It is particularly dangerous at the moment as political in-fighting intensifies in the run-up to the regional elections.
One of the protesters, Brian Arcola, said: "Charter flights like this are the latest step in the government's macabre immigration policy. Aside from the ethical implications of handcuffing and deporting innocent people under the threat of the baton, by not telling them when they're going to be deported they deprive many people from adequate legal representation. If there's to be any truth in the claim that Britain is a tolerant, fair country, this has got to be stopped."
One of the deportees, whose real name cannot be used for his own security if he goes back to Iraq, said earlier on the phone: "I've been in the UK for nine years. I have a partner and an 18-month-old son. If I am deported, all this will be gone. I've made a life for myself here, living as everyone else does in this country, but I'm now being treated like I'm a criminal, imprisoned then deported." He added: "I left Iraq originally because my life was threatened by a radical Islamic group. That same group is now more powerful than they were before. I won't be safe, I won't be safe."
Another Iraqi refugees, who was deported last month and prefers to keep anonymous, said: "I don't know when I'll see my partner or my daughter again. I speak to them in tears on the phone every night. I am still in shock after being sent back. I have had to change my name so I'm not targeted by the same people who threatened to kill me before. My entire world has caved in."
*Each deportee is handcuffed and accompanied by two security guards.
Friday, 13 March 2009
"They're Back: Mass Of Migrants Queue Up At Sangatte..."
- Daily Mail Headline
Let me let you in on a secret, 'they' never went away, you just chose (like some many others including the French & UK governments) not to look, as the reality was far too embarrassing to acknowledge.
Eric Besson, in a surprising about face since January this year, when he declared he was going to make Calais an 'immigrant free zone', has said that, "with humanitarian workers and elected officials, we (he must mean the French government here) are moving towards the setting up of light structures around Calais."
Besson also said that the new buildings would "offer to foreigners without papers information services about their rights, but also sanitary facilities, and food points." This is an astounding turn of events, if it is in fact true.
But of course there will be a big catch. The migrants will become even more visible to the authorities and especially the CRS, who are at the forefront of the French state's war on 'illegal' immigrants, regularly attacking the residents of the 'Jungles' with tear-gas and batons, arresting them and burning any structures and the meagre possessions they contain to the ground.
No doubt the International Organisation for Migration will be there in force, trying to bribe the migrants into returning to where they came from with a few magic beans or their equivalent of 40 acres and a mule. Or using scare tactics, with (unfortunately all too true) tales of the terrors of migrant lives in the UK, to induce them into going home to the countries from which they have fled.
Since the new UMP mayor of Calais, Natacha Bouchart, entered office, the situation for migrants and the overstretched volunteers, who provide the far from basic support structures that they rely upon, has deteriorated significantly. Systematic harassment, overstretched resources and official attempts to drive a wedge between groups such as Salam and Belle Etoile, have led in recent times to friction between some of the groups (usually referred to as associations) and to Belle Etoile ceasing to provide lunchtime meals in protest at the local council's lack of support.
Just last month Natacha Bouchart was quoted in the Nord Littoral, a local paper, as saying, "They [the migrants] have a dream life in Calais! See how they are dressed! See how they eat! Four times a day! And all this thanks to us who have put in place a WC, opened places for them in times of extreme cold, established the Council for Migrants, will make available to the Associations the homes of the lock-keepers!"*
And what of this Council for Migrants? It has met just 3 times since it was inaugurated last September and Belle Etoile, the oldest of the Calais associations, is prohibited from attending by the mayor. And no doubt the migrants will be subject to this sort of patronising and ignorant attitude, as displayed by the mayor in this quote, if these 'centres' ever actually open.
*The lock-keepers houses had previously been squatted by migrants and on February 13th this year the CRS tear-gassed the buildings, forcing some of the migrants to escape the gas by climbing on the roof. 20-30 migrants were arrested in this raid.
Let me let you in on a secret, 'they' never went away, you just chose (like some many others including the French & UK governments) not to look, as the reality was far too embarrassing to acknowledge.
Eric Besson, in a surprising about face since January this year, when he declared he was going to make Calais an 'immigrant free zone', has said that, "with humanitarian workers and elected officials, we (he must mean the French government here) are moving towards the setting up of light structures around Calais."
Besson also said that the new buildings would "offer to foreigners without papers information services about their rights, but also sanitary facilities, and food points." This is an astounding turn of events, if it is in fact true.
But of course there will be a big catch. The migrants will become even more visible to the authorities and especially the CRS, who are at the forefront of the French state's war on 'illegal' immigrants, regularly attacking the residents of the 'Jungles' with tear-gas and batons, arresting them and burning any structures and the meagre possessions they contain to the ground.
No doubt the International Organisation for Migration will be there in force, trying to bribe the migrants into returning to where they came from with a few magic beans or their equivalent of 40 acres and a mule. Or using scare tactics, with (unfortunately all too true) tales of the terrors of migrant lives in the UK, to induce them into going home to the countries from which they have fled.
Since the new UMP mayor of Calais, Natacha Bouchart, entered office, the situation for migrants and the overstretched volunteers, who provide the far from basic support structures that they rely upon, has deteriorated significantly. Systematic harassment, overstretched resources and official attempts to drive a wedge between groups such as Salam and Belle Etoile, have led in recent times to friction between some of the groups (usually referred to as associations) and to Belle Etoile ceasing to provide lunchtime meals in protest at the local council's lack of support.
Just last month Natacha Bouchart was quoted in the Nord Littoral, a local paper, as saying, "They [the migrants] have a dream life in Calais! See how they are dressed! See how they eat! Four times a day! And all this thanks to us who have put in place a WC, opened places for them in times of extreme cold, established the Council for Migrants, will make available to the Associations the homes of the lock-keepers!"*
And what of this Council for Migrants? It has met just 3 times since it was inaugurated last September and Belle Etoile, the oldest of the Calais associations, is prohibited from attending by the mayor. And no doubt the migrants will be subject to this sort of patronising and ignorant attitude, as displayed by the mayor in this quote, if these 'centres' ever actually open.
*The lock-keepers houses had previously been squatted by migrants and on February 13th this year the CRS tear-gassed the buildings, forcing some of the migrants to escape the gas by climbing on the roof. 20-30 migrants were arrested in this raid.
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
Yarl's Wood Demonstration March 21st
On Saturday 21 March London No Borders, Campaign Against Immigration Controls, SOAS Detainee Support Group, No-one is Illegal, Campaign To Stop Arbitrary Detention at Yarl’s Wood, Campaign to Close Campsfield, Legal Action for Women, All African Women's Group and Barbed Wire Britain Network to End Detention have called a demonstration at Yarl's Wood IRC calling for an end to immigration detention.
Yarl's Wood is one of 7 IRC's run by private companies for profit in this country and is currently run by Serco under an £87m contract. In May 2007 (just a month after Serco took over there) women detainees, many of them single mothers, began a hunger strike in response to new measures being introduced by the company. At its height, there were over 100 people refusing food, including a number of children.
The women's 15 demands were:
* Release from detention
* No lock up
* No punishment or retribution against those protesting or on hunger strike.
* Proper access to legal information
* Respect for privacy and the end to male guards entering cells without warning
* An end to violence from staff
* The dismissal of sexist and racist staff
* The right to keep mobiles
* An investigation into money sent by relatives and supporters which disappeared.
* A reinstatement of the 71p daily allowance
* No profiteering
* No fingerprinting of visitors
* A choice of sanitary pads
* Adequate health care
* Edible food we can eat.
This was just one of many examples of attempts by detainees to resist the often brutal detention regimes found in UK IRC's (it was in fact the second hunger strike at Yarl's Wood that month and another followed in September of that year).
Come along and show your solidarity with the detainees there and your opposition to the regime everywhere. Gather at Bedford Town Centre to march from Bedford to Yarl’s Wood Detention Centre, to demonstrate between 12.30 and 2pm.
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