...Until They Are Released
Statement From: Black Women’s Rape Action Project
We have spoken to over 50 women in the last few days and they all have a compelling case to be released: their continued detention is either inhumane or contravenes Home Office rules. Some have been referred to lawyers because their detention is illegal.[1]
STOP PRESS: we just heard that one woman has been released but three others faced removal. 50 still on hunger strike
Most women are:
SURVIVORS OF RAPE AND OTHER TORTURE.[2] Operations Enforcement Manual rules say they should only be detained “under very exceptional circumstances.”
MOTHERS SEPARATED FROM THEIR CHILDREN. The impact of detention on children is finally widely condemned. But what about the impact of separation on children left with social services or other family members when their mothers are detained? Some families face permanent separation if women are deported. Mothers speak constantly of their anguish at not being able to care for their children who suffer depression, bed wetting and feel at risk of harm.
NOT FACING IMMINENT REMOVAL. According to the Home Office people should only be detained when: their removal is imminent; there is a risk of them absconding; other alternatives have been considered; and the person has no particular health needs or vulnerabilities. Yet many of the women on hunger strike have been detained for months, some for up to two years and no independent assessment of their circumstances has been done.[3]
CRIMINALISED FOR TRYING TO SURVIVE. What is not generally known is that many women are in detention having been convicted of “crimes” of destitution or for travelling on false papers (unavoidable when you are fleeing persecution). They are convicted, imprisoned and then transferred straight to detention pending removal. Many have lived and raised families in the UK for years.
Lord Justice Sedley, a Court of Appeal judge, commented that the rule telling judges to dismiss asylum-seekers who have fled their home country using a false passport is a “serious invasion of judicial independence”.[4]
Hunger strikers are from a wide range of countries including: China, Cote D’Ivoire, Eritrea
Ghana, Guinea, Jamaica, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Qatar, Romani, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Many women report suffering violence from guards. Some were left outside in snow storms on Monday wearing only light clothes. A recent report upheld 97% of complaints against UK Border staff.[5]
The All African Women’s Group, a self-help group of women asylum seekers, some of whose members are in detention, are part of a daily rota taking calls from hunger strikers.
Women on hunger strike include:
Ms O, who has now been taken to Holloway prison. She fled to the UK having suffered years of domestic violence from her uncle in Nigeria and was then threatened with Female Genital Mutilation. She was told by a woman who befriended her that she didn’t stand a chance of asylum.[6] In 2007, she was arrested and convicted of possessing criminal property as she had a little money in her bank account because her parents’ home had been sold. She was remanded in Holloway and eventually in desperation and believing that she would be released sooner, pleaded guilty. She was taken straight from prison to Yarl’s Wood. She reported to the Yarl’s Wood health centre that she was a survivor of torture and showed them her scars. But she remained in detention. (Women Against Rape helped another woman win £38, 000 in similar circumstances.) A lawyer demanded £4000 to represent her. Her barrister used the wrong name in court, didn’t present all the evidence in her case and she was refused. During the hunger strike, she was told by Yarl’s Wood staff that “You are from the jungle” and she should “go back”.
Ms D, a Black woman and a mother of two, has been detained for 11 months. She was convicted of “racially aggravated assault” after police were called to an argument in a shop. She tried to stop police taking her youngest son from her, was held down and accused of kicking a policeman. One of the police officers (all white) called her a ‘black bitch’ to which Ms D responded ‘white bastard’. This led to a conviction for possession of drugs. She was imprisoned and then taken to Yarl’s Wood. Her 16 year old son is in the care of social services and her seven year old with a cousin. Ms D was assaulted by a guard on Monday and suffered bruising to her head. She is being held in segregation because she has visible bruises and she has had no medical treatment for her injuries.
Ms N, a lesbian woman and a single mum with two children, has been in the UK for 12 years. She fled to the UK from Jamaica after she witnessed a murder, was falsely accused of being a “police informer” and beaten and stabbed. She had no idea that she could claim asylum in the UK. For years she was unable to speak about the rape she suffered from her stepfather as a child. She eventually disclosed it to Women Against Rape describing how when she told her real father about the abuse, her stepfather killed her mum. She won asylum in late October but the Home Office appealed and has been kept in detention since. Her son has been attacked by a gang and threatened with guns while she’s been inside.
Ms W has been in Yarl’s Wood for eight months and is on the seventh day of her hunger strike. She has lived in the UK for 10 years and her daughter is British. She was convicted and imprisoned for 10 months for possession of drugs after she was forced to carry a package by men who threatened to kill her and her daughter. She could never speak about the threats as the men told her that they knew where her daughter was and would kill her if she talked. Ms W has not seen her seven year old daughter for 1 ½ years. Her daughter cries constantly on the phone. Relatives say that she sometimes starts packing her bags to “go and see mummy”.
Ms S has been in Yarl’s Wood for eight months. Ms S is from Jamaica. Her mother left for the UK when she was six and she didn’t join her mother until she was 12. She was traumatised by the separation. In her teenage years, she started using drugs and at 19 was arrested for intent to supply. She was threatened by a gang that if she gave information to the police she would be killed so, fearing for her life, she went on the run. After 15 months she was caught and got a heavier sentence because she had broken bail. She now faces deportation to Jamaica where she has not been since a child. Other women say she has been transferred to prison but we can’t get hold of her.
Ms M fled rape and other torture in Gambia. She tried to get help from the legal aid clinic in Yarl’s Wood but they didn’t get back to her for four months. She is on five different medications but still joined the hunger strike.
Women are available for interview: 07980659831
More information about the conditions in Yarl’s Wood reported by women recently released who spoke at the House of Commons 14 January 2010.
Black Women’s Rape Action Project
Crossroads Women’s Centre
230a Kentish Town Rd
London NW5 2AB 020 7482 2496
12 February 2010
[1] Minister ‘admits paying millions to detained migrants’ Thursday, 11 February 2010
[2] 70% of women in Yarl’s Wood are survivors of rape and other torture. “Bleak House in Our Times: An investigation into women’s rights violations.” Legal Action for Women, June 2006
[3] Council of Europe report: “The detention of asylum seekers and irregular migrants in Europe” (January 2010) provides 10 guiding principles governing detention including that “detention shall be ordered only for the specific purpose of preventing an unauthorised entry or with a view to deportation or extradition; vulnerable people should not, as a rule, be placed in detention.
[4] “Asylum-seekers put at risk by law, warns top judge.” The Independent, Wednesday, 2 July 2008
[5] ‘Fast and fair?’ A report by the Parliamentary Ombudsman on the UK Border Agency Fourth report Session 2009/2010 found 478 complaints made against the UKBA since last June. 97% of those investigated were upheld.
[6] Home Office Operational Guidance Notes on Nigeria accept that FGM is widely practiced in Nigeria, that women are unlikely to get state protection but say that it would be safe for a woman to relocate to another area. Asylum claims should therefore be “certified as clearly unfounded”.
Friday, 12 February 2010
Mojirola Daniels Speaks Out: The Testimony Of A Yarl's Wood Hunger Striker
I am one of the ladies on hunger strike at Yarl’s wood centre. On Monday 8th February 2010 around 11 45am GMT time, some group of women stood at the centre of a hall in the center. We were protesting about the condition at the centre and the length of time we spend in here. An officer approached the group and informed us that an immigration official would like to see us all to discuss the issues that we have raised.
The officer told us to follow him down the corridor to the immigration office. We proceed down to the end of the corridor. When we got to the very end, the officer asked that we should go inside the office 4 ladies at a time. They allowed 4 women to enter and told us that they will let 4 more in when those 4 inside gets out. One of the manager of the centre ( a lady manager called Viv Moore) came from the long corridor and asked us if we wanted to go back to our rooms. We told her that we were waiting to see the immigration. She said we are just wasting our time and that nothing is going to be achieved from our protest. She then asked the officers in the room to come with her and as soon as they got to the door, the last officer locked the door on us. They all stayed outside watching us through the door window.
We were singing and chanting for about one and a half hour since we have been looked up, some ladies went to the door and asked to go to the toilet. The officers including the manager Viv Moore told us that we are not allowed to leave where we are. Some of the ladies started getting sick and collapsing on the floor. There was one asthma lady, one sickle cell lady and two others who were choking on the floor. We were all hyper-ventilating and sweating. There was no door or windows open and we were all complaining of lack of air. Around 2.00pm, Some Chinese girls asked the officers to go to the toilet and they were told no one is allowed to get out. The Chinese bend down at the corner and pee on the floor. Few minutes later others copied them and wee on the ground. the officers were all watching and still refused to open the door. Some people decided to call the emergency service for the ladies having breathing difficulty. The police and ambulance were asked for and they called us back to tell us they are outside of the center but are not allowed entry.
About an hour after the police called us back, some ladies realised that the window was only closed not locked. They opened the window and got out into the compound. Other ladies went through the window and joined them. More were trying to get out through the window but the officers had seen what was happening and had gone round the compound to meet them. They were carrying police guard shield and wearing heavy jacket. They crushed the ladies who were trying to get out with the guard shied and pushed them to the ground. Some women were crushed to the ground and beaten up. Two ladies were physically injured and were bleeding. The windows were protected with the guard shield and the officers holding on to the guard shield. We were all hysterical and upset and were begging the officers not to hurt the women outside. The officers laughed at us as more officers joined them and formed a line to force the women outside in one small corner.
Some women needed to change their sanitary towel cause they were on their period but they had to throw bloodied towel next to where we were standing. We were all exhausted and demoralized by 5.00pm and we had no choice but to sit on the soiled floor. There was no chair or anything to lean on. There was an helicopter hovering above outside by this time but the women outside were not allowed to move from where they are being crushed. Some officers came outside to offer the officers chips and hot drinks. They were replaced by new officers every hour. No officer stayed guard for more than one hour. Every next hour, new sets of officers comes to replace them from their position. The women locked up and the 19 women outside were not offered any food or drink.There was no heat in the small place where we were locked and we all suffered from hypothermia. The ladies outside had to stand in the cold snow without sock and jacket and the officers will not allow them to have jacket. We tried to get them jackets and jumpers through the windows and the officers smashed the window on one of the ladies fingers.Her middle finger was damaged and her fingernail came off. There was blood everywhere and the officers still refused her medical treatment. We were not moved from where we have been detained until 7.30pm.
We were told to come out in pairs and were searched with around a dozen officers watching us. We were offered food and medication after the search and then led to our wings. We were about 70 which consist many Nigerians, Chinese, Jamaicans, Zimbabweans and some nationals that I do not remember. I have been traumatised and victimised because of this experience. I can never believe this can happen in the UK and I am still in shock.
Please publish and pass this story to who ever is interested.
You can use the personal information that I supply below
Mojirola Daniels
Nigerian
Aged 45
Came to UK- December 1987.
3 British children
mojidan@hotmail.de
The officer told us to follow him down the corridor to the immigration office. We proceed down to the end of the corridor. When we got to the very end, the officer asked that we should go inside the office 4 ladies at a time. They allowed 4 women to enter and told us that they will let 4 more in when those 4 inside gets out. One of the manager of the centre ( a lady manager called Viv Moore) came from the long corridor and asked us if we wanted to go back to our rooms. We told her that we were waiting to see the immigration. She said we are just wasting our time and that nothing is going to be achieved from our protest. She then asked the officers in the room to come with her and as soon as they got to the door, the last officer locked the door on us. They all stayed outside watching us through the door window.
We were singing and chanting for about one and a half hour since we have been looked up, some ladies went to the door and asked to go to the toilet. The officers including the manager Viv Moore told us that we are not allowed to leave where we are. Some of the ladies started getting sick and collapsing on the floor. There was one asthma lady, one sickle cell lady and two others who were choking on the floor. We were all hyper-ventilating and sweating. There was no door or windows open and we were all complaining of lack of air. Around 2.00pm, Some Chinese girls asked the officers to go to the toilet and they were told no one is allowed to get out. The Chinese bend down at the corner and pee on the floor. Few minutes later others copied them and wee on the ground. the officers were all watching and still refused to open the door. Some people decided to call the emergency service for the ladies having breathing difficulty. The police and ambulance were asked for and they called us back to tell us they are outside of the center but are not allowed entry.
About an hour after the police called us back, some ladies realised that the window was only closed not locked. They opened the window and got out into the compound. Other ladies went through the window and joined them. More were trying to get out through the window but the officers had seen what was happening and had gone round the compound to meet them. They were carrying police guard shield and wearing heavy jacket. They crushed the ladies who were trying to get out with the guard shied and pushed them to the ground. Some women were crushed to the ground and beaten up. Two ladies were physically injured and were bleeding. The windows were protected with the guard shield and the officers holding on to the guard shield. We were all hysterical and upset and were begging the officers not to hurt the women outside. The officers laughed at us as more officers joined them and formed a line to force the women outside in one small corner.
Some women needed to change their sanitary towel cause they were on their period but they had to throw bloodied towel next to where we were standing. We were all exhausted and demoralized by 5.00pm and we had no choice but to sit on the soiled floor. There was no chair or anything to lean on. There was an helicopter hovering above outside by this time but the women outside were not allowed to move from where they are being crushed. Some officers came outside to offer the officers chips and hot drinks. They were replaced by new officers every hour. No officer stayed guard for more than one hour. Every next hour, new sets of officers comes to replace them from their position. The women locked up and the 19 women outside were not offered any food or drink.There was no heat in the small place where we were locked and we all suffered from hypothermia. The ladies outside had to stand in the cold snow without sock and jacket and the officers will not allow them to have jacket. We tried to get them jackets and jumpers through the windows and the officers smashed the window on one of the ladies fingers.Her middle finger was damaged and her fingernail came off. There was blood everywhere and the officers still refused her medical treatment. We were not moved from where we have been detained until 7.30pm.
We were told to come out in pairs and were searched with around a dozen officers watching us. We were offered food and medication after the search and then led to our wings. We were about 70 which consist many Nigerians, Chinese, Jamaicans, Zimbabweans and some nationals that I do not remember. I have been traumatised and victimised because of this experience. I can never believe this can happen in the UK and I am still in shock.
Please publish and pass this story to who ever is interested.
You can use the personal information that I supply below
Mojirola Daniels
Nigerian
Aged 45
Came to UK- December 1987.
3 British children
mojidan@hotmail.de
Thursday, 11 February 2010
Phone Blockade In Support Of Yarl's Wood Hunger Strikers
London Detainee Solidarity Network are calling for people to ring Serco Offender Management and the centre manager of Yarl's Wood tomorrow, Friday 12th February, from 10am-midday to express support for the hunger strikes and disgust at their treatment by Serco's guards.
Serco Home Affairs Office - 01344 386300
Yarl's Wood Duty Manager - 01234 821517
There will be a demonstration outside Serco's offices in central London (22 Hand Court, Holborn, WC1V 6JF) at 2.30pm tomorrow. Please bring banners and instruments.
Serco Home Affairs Office - 01344 386300
Yarl's Wood Duty Manager - 01234 821517
There will be a demonstration outside Serco's offices in central London (22 Hand Court, Holborn, WC1V 6JF) at 2.30pm tomorrow. Please bring banners and instruments.
Yarl's Wood Hunger Strike Update & Protests
Whilst the picture coming out of Yarl's Wood is confused, with the UK Borders Agency claiming the hunger strike has ended, some of the women are still in contact with the outside world via mobile phones and they claim that they are still refusing food. Even the local paper claims that the protests are still happening (though it's hardly "the full story").
What is for definite is that in reprisal for the protests four women were removed from the detention centre on Monday night and spent the night in the cells at Bedford police station. They were not arrested and have been charged with no offence. However, they were taken to Colnbrook STHC the following day and feared they were going to be summarily deported.
Yesterday morning at 01:15 they were woken up and told they were being transferred to prison. When they asked why, they were told it was because the detention estate had no free spaces, a blatant lie. They are believed to have been split up, with 2 taken to HMP Holloway and 2 2 to HMP Bronzefield. The latest news on the hunger strike is that it is still ongoing, with more women joining it (68 on hunger strike at the last count).
The hunger strike is garnering widespread media coverage and has reinvigorated the Campaign to Shut Down Yarl's Wood itself and the general campaign against the detention of children in immigration prisons. Yesterday, the SOAS Detainee Support group, who are in regular contact with the Yarl's Wood women, held a demonstration outside the Serco offices in Holborn.* A handful of MPs were even stirred out of their normal lethargic state and held a debate on the issue.
* Their posts on Indymedia and London Indymedia have updates of the information they have received from the hunger strikers.
What is for definite is that in reprisal for the protests four women were removed from the detention centre on Monday night and spent the night in the cells at Bedford police station. They were not arrested and have been charged with no offence. However, they were taken to Colnbrook STHC the following day and feared they were going to be summarily deported.
Yesterday morning at 01:15 they were woken up and told they were being transferred to prison. When they asked why, they were told it was because the detention estate had no free spaces, a blatant lie. They are believed to have been split up, with 2 taken to HMP Holloway and 2 2 to HMP Bronzefield. The latest news on the hunger strike is that it is still ongoing, with more women joining it (68 on hunger strike at the last count).
The hunger strike is garnering widespread media coverage and has reinvigorated the Campaign to Shut Down Yarl's Wood itself and the general campaign against the detention of children in immigration prisons. Yesterday, the SOAS Detainee Support group, who are in regular contact with the Yarl's Wood women, held a demonstration outside the Serco offices in Holborn.* A handful of MPs were even stirred out of their normal lethargic state and held a debate on the issue.
* Their posts on Indymedia and London Indymedia have updates of the information they have received from the hunger strikers.
Protest In Support Of The Yarl's Wood Hunger Strikers
London Detainee Solidarity Network have called for a demo this Friday at 2.30pm in support of the Yarl's Wood hunger strikers.
The demo will take place at Serco's offices (Serco manage Yarl's Wood on behalf of UKBA) at 18-22 Hand Court (off High Holborn), London, WC1V 6JF. [Map]
Please bring banners and instruments.
The demo will take place at Serco's offices (Serco manage Yarl's Wood on behalf of UKBA) at 18-22 Hand Court (off High Holborn), London, WC1V 6JF. [Map]
Please bring banners and instruments.
Kronstadt Hanger Reopens In Calais
Yesterday, despite the effort of the local authorities and the lies spread about the aims and activities of No Borders and SoS Soutien aux Sans Papiers by Besson and Bouchart [1], local Calais activists [2] reopened the Krondstadt Hanger and held a press conference there outlining our response to the authorities' actions. These potentially include suing both Besson and Bouchart for defamation and taking legal action against the closure of the legally acquired space, something that was so blatantly a political act dressed up as a health and safety issue..
Unfortunately, No Borders still do not know the full reasons cited in the administrative order closing the hanger as the Calais Council have not seen fit to issue SoS Soutien aux Sans Papiers (who officially rent the building) with the order. However, the deputy mayor in charge of the safety committee, Philippe Mignonette, said in a TV interview that gas heaters were being used in the building and that "were cylinders badly closed". The problem is that the only gas cylinders were already there and that only small electric heaters and hot plates to heat soup were being operated. There was no gas heaters or any other gas appliances on the premises.
So, as of 3pm yesterday, the Kronstadt Hanger is open and fulfilling the role it was originally meant for, not the one that Besson fantasised it to be.
[1] Besson labelled No Borders activists as members of the "violent extreme left"and Mafia, saying "will not allow the reconstruction of a place which serves as a base camp to Mafia networks of clandestine immigration near the port of Calais."
[2] Bouchart claimed No Borders were outsiders walking over the feet and bellies of Calaisiens ("sur les pieds et le ventre des Calaisiens")!
--------------------------------------------------------------------
DECLARATION OF C'SUR
*OUR SUPPORT FOR NO BORDER VOLUNTEERS*
The C'SUR collective offers its support to the No border volunteers that are in Calais and is indignant about the remarks made by the government and the mayor against them. They are neither violent nor terrorists but activists that fight for the respect of fundamental human rights.
In this sense the no border volunteers in Calais fight like the other associations for the respect and the dignity of the migrants. When Sangatte closed, we also invaded public places and parish rooms to accommodate the migrants whilst those who had applauded the closure of Sangatte were not interested in their fate.
When the laws do not respect man we go beyond them to live the law of universal fraternity.
For several months the volunteers of no border have supported the actions of the humanitarian associations on the ground. We thank them for this.
The hangar project is interesting: it was not destined to become a place for accommodation but was to be a place of welcome for diverse activities for the migrants and also a friendly place for exchange and meeting of volunteers, inhabitants [of Calais] and migrants (exhibitions, conferences, debates and concerts were planned)
We regret certain words of the authorities that are dangerous because they stir up hatred between Calaisiens and migrants. The population denounce the omnipresence of police in Calais. Many Calaisiens show solidarity with the migrants and volunteers who help them (at the last count 483 Calaisiens had signed a petition of support).
The dignity afforded by the better sleeping conditions of the BCMO: boxes on a cold and damp floor, is that enough ??? Proper toilets!
We invite all the associations to show solidarity and the leaders to mobilise more strongly on another project than the repression of Mr Besson.
CALAIS
10 FEBRUARY 2010
C'SUR
For all contacts: JP Boutoille spokesperson of the collective 0624758082
Unfortunately, No Borders still do not know the full reasons cited in the administrative order closing the hanger as the Calais Council have not seen fit to issue SoS Soutien aux Sans Papiers (who officially rent the building) with the order. However, the deputy mayor in charge of the safety committee, Philippe Mignonette, said in a TV interview that gas heaters were being used in the building and that "were cylinders badly closed". The problem is that the only gas cylinders were already there and that only small electric heaters and hot plates to heat soup were being operated. There was no gas heaters or any other gas appliances on the premises.
So, as of 3pm yesterday, the Kronstadt Hanger is open and fulfilling the role it was originally meant for, not the one that Besson fantasised it to be.
[1] Besson labelled No Borders activists as members of the "violent extreme left"and Mafia, saying "will not allow the reconstruction of a place which serves as a base camp to Mafia networks of clandestine immigration near the port of Calais."
[2] Bouchart claimed No Borders were outsiders walking over the feet and bellies of Calaisiens ("sur les pieds et le ventre des Calaisiens")!
--------------------------------------------------------------------
DECLARATION OF C'SUR
*OUR SUPPORT FOR NO BORDER VOLUNTEERS*
The C'SUR collective offers its support to the No border volunteers that are in Calais and is indignant about the remarks made by the government and the mayor against them. They are neither violent nor terrorists but activists that fight for the respect of fundamental human rights.
In this sense the no border volunteers in Calais fight like the other associations for the respect and the dignity of the migrants. When Sangatte closed, we also invaded public places and parish rooms to accommodate the migrants whilst those who had applauded the closure of Sangatte were not interested in their fate.
When the laws do not respect man we go beyond them to live the law of universal fraternity.
For several months the volunteers of no border have supported the actions of the humanitarian associations on the ground. We thank them for this.
The hangar project is interesting: it was not destined to become a place for accommodation but was to be a place of welcome for diverse activities for the migrants and also a friendly place for exchange and meeting of volunteers, inhabitants [of Calais] and migrants (exhibitions, conferences, debates and concerts were planned)
We regret certain words of the authorities that are dangerous because they stir up hatred between Calaisiens and migrants. The population denounce the omnipresence of police in Calais. Many Calaisiens show solidarity with the migrants and volunteers who help them (at the last count 483 Calaisiens had signed a petition of support).
The dignity afforded by the better sleeping conditions of the BCMO: boxes on a cold and damp floor, is that enough ??? Proper toilets!
We invite all the associations to show solidarity and the leaders to mobilise more strongly on another project than the repression of Mr Besson.
CALAIS
10 FEBRUARY 2010
C'SUR
For all contacts: JP Boutoille spokesperson of the collective 0624758082
Monday, 8 February 2010
What Really Happened Chez Les Flics Aux Hanger Kronstadt
Since the news of the impending opening of the Kronstadt Hanger, a self-organised resource centre for activists and migrants alike, the police had closely monitored the building and effective mounted a blockade of it since last Friday. On Saturday, people managed to circumvent the 3 police lines blocking access to the front door (they did not force their way in as Besson has claimed). Their numbers were swollen with migrants who were once again shelter-less following the closure after 2 days of the cold weather shelter at the BCMO. What had been organised, as the Nord Littoral accurately put it was "an afternoon and evening discussions to inform and debate with neighbours on the use of Kronstadt Street Hangar."
The police then reinforced their lines and told the occupants that they would be allowed to leave but that no one would be allowed to enter the hanger, thus turning it into a siege. Migrants were allowed to leave to go for their lunch on Sunday but when they tried to return, together with a number of activists who had been trapped outside the building all day, they were brutally assulted by CRS officers in riot gear. All this time journalists were kept away from the building despite requests to enter.
The police then parked 2 large trucks in front of the building, effectively screening the entrance from the surrounding streets. The waiting press, including TV cameramen, were violently pushed back by the CRS (a senior officer was heard to cry out "Pas de violences médiatiques!"*) as they formed a cordon around the front of the building and arrested activists outside the hanger. The migrants inside, fearing for their safety, then left in small groups with the No Borders activists barricaded inside.
70 police then proceeded to smash their way into the building through the glass doors when only a dozen or so No Borders activists, well below the fire safety limit which is one of the excuses the authorities have been putting forward as a reason for closing the hanger down, were left inside. One volunteer had her nose broken and activists were bullied before being arrested and taken away for identity checks. The police then set about smashing much of the donated materials inside, including a long wooden counter. Many items were removed (stolen) and the large metal shutter on the front of the building has since been securely fastened to prevent further entry.
Our response is to take the authorities to the courts to secure our legal right to use the building. Besson and Bouchart have framed their reasons for closing the hanger down almsot exclusively in political terms:
"[The state] will not allow the reconstruction of a place which serves as a base camp to mafia networks of clandestine immigration near the port of Calais". - Besson
"(There will be) neither a new Sangatte, nor a new jungle" - the Secretary of State for the Family Nadine Morano. "We will not let anyone stay in the woods or in hangars ... the doctrine of the government is clear: we want a humane immigration, respectful whilst, at the same time, fighting against the networks of clandestine immigration."
Bouchart (the mayor of Calais) claimed that they had been tricked and spoke of "provocation" by the network No Border (sic). "The plan grand froid was activated for a day and a half and, as agreed with the associations, the room [BCMO] was closed. It had been agreed by all" (i.e. all that accept the mayor's paltry 'aid' and who refuse to criticise her in any fashion) that the room could not longer be "occupied at night."
"(We will not) allow zealots to manipulate us and risk triggering an extreme response." - Bouchart. So No Borders manipulated you into ordering the extreme (violent) response by the CRS?
Whilst rationalising it as a 'heath and safety issue':
"The police forces and the state have guaranteed me that they have set up an operation to prevent the migrants from entering the private place." - Bouchart
The occupation of this hangar which is "unsuitable to accommodate people" is "unacceptable", concluded the minister, who has "started to consider actions which will bring an end" to this situation. - Besson
Why is it that the French media can paint an at least somewhat accurate picture of the goings on but the UK media needless to say consistently get most of the details wrong?** "French riot police forcibly evicted 100 Britain-bound migrants last night from a building dubbed ‘Sangatte II’." - Metro. "Riot police clashed with UK bound migrants yesterday during a mass eviction of a charity welcome centre in Calais." - Daily Mail.
* "Don't injure the media" - the No Borders activists anfd the migrants are 'fair game', but not the press.
** Of course this is a rhetorical question.
The police then reinforced their lines and told the occupants that they would be allowed to leave but that no one would be allowed to enter the hanger, thus turning it into a siege. Migrants were allowed to leave to go for their lunch on Sunday but when they tried to return, together with a number of activists who had been trapped outside the building all day, they were brutally assulted by CRS officers in riot gear. All this time journalists were kept away from the building despite requests to enter.
The police then parked 2 large trucks in front of the building, effectively screening the entrance from the surrounding streets. The waiting press, including TV cameramen, were violently pushed back by the CRS (a senior officer was heard to cry out "Pas de violences médiatiques!"*) as they formed a cordon around the front of the building and arrested activists outside the hanger. The migrants inside, fearing for their safety, then left in small groups with the No Borders activists barricaded inside.
70 police then proceeded to smash their way into the building through the glass doors when only a dozen or so No Borders activists, well below the fire safety limit which is one of the excuses the authorities have been putting forward as a reason for closing the hanger down, were left inside. One volunteer had her nose broken and activists were bullied before being arrested and taken away for identity checks. The police then set about smashing much of the donated materials inside, including a long wooden counter. Many items were removed (stolen) and the large metal shutter on the front of the building has since been securely fastened to prevent further entry.
Our response is to take the authorities to the courts to secure our legal right to use the building. Besson and Bouchart have framed their reasons for closing the hanger down almsot exclusively in political terms:
"[The state] will not allow the reconstruction of a place which serves as a base camp to mafia networks of clandestine immigration near the port of Calais". - Besson
"(There will be) neither a new Sangatte, nor a new jungle" - the Secretary of State for the Family Nadine Morano. "We will not let anyone stay in the woods or in hangars ... the doctrine of the government is clear: we want a humane immigration, respectful whilst, at the same time, fighting against the networks of clandestine immigration."
Bouchart (the mayor of Calais) claimed that they had been tricked and spoke of "provocation" by the network No Border (sic). "The plan grand froid was activated for a day and a half and, as agreed with the associations, the room [BCMO] was closed. It had been agreed by all" (i.e. all that accept the mayor's paltry 'aid' and who refuse to criticise her in any fashion) that the room could not longer be "occupied at night."
"(We will not) allow zealots to manipulate us and risk triggering an extreme response." - Bouchart. So No Borders manipulated you into ordering the extreme (violent) response by the CRS?
Whilst rationalising it as a 'heath and safety issue':
"The police forces and the state have guaranteed me that they have set up an operation to prevent the migrants from entering the private place." - Bouchart
The occupation of this hangar which is "unsuitable to accommodate people" is "unacceptable", concluded the minister, who has "started to consider actions which will bring an end" to this situation. - Besson
Why is it that the French media can paint an at least somewhat accurate picture of the goings on but the UK media needless to say consistently get most of the details wrong?** "French riot police forcibly evicted 100 Britain-bound migrants last night from a building dubbed ‘Sangatte II’." - Metro. "Riot police clashed with UK bound migrants yesterday during a mass eviction of a charity welcome centre in Calais." - Daily Mail.
* "Don't injure the media" - the No Borders activists anfd the migrants are 'fair game', but not the press.
** Of course this is a rhetorical question.
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