No More WH Deportation Tours!
Public demo at WH Tours offices, Kelvin Way, Manor Royal, Crawley
Saturday, 27th March 2010
Meet at 11am @ Crawley train station. Bring banners and instruments.
WH Tours is a coach company based in Crawley, near Gatwick airport. Part of the company's business is leisure: coach excursions, sightseeing tours and so on. Another part, however, is much more sinister: the company provides coaches for transporting detained migrants facing deportation from immigration prisons to airports to be deported on commercial or specially charted flights.
Forcible deportations tear apart people's lives as they are split from their families and communities and their right to freedom of movement is denied. On top of this, the vast majority of deportations have been to countries devastated by wars and armed conflicts (often caused by western colonial interests) such as Afghanistan, Iraq, DR Congo, Nigeria, Jamaica, Sri Lanka and so on. After being forcibly deported, many have been kidnapped, imprisoned, tortured and killed. Others have had to change their identities or move again to avoid persecution.
By providing coaches to transport deportees to the airport, WH Tours is complicit in the human tragedies that forcible deportations cause.
Deportees, including families and children, are also treated as criminals. They are typically handcuffed and accompanied by two private security guards each. There have been many reports of racial and violent abuse suffered by deportees at the hands of private 'escorts'. WH Tours is complicit in these illegal acts too.
London NoBorders is calling for WH Tours to immediately end its contracts with G4S, the UKBA and any other other private or government body involved in the
deportation machine.
We are calling for all individuals, schools and companies that use WH Tours to boycott them until the company ends its involvement in deportation.
London NoBorders is also calling for a public demo outside WH Tours (The Kelvin Centre, Kelvin Way, Crawley RH10 9SF) on Saturday, 27th March, to express our disgust at its shameful involvement in this inhumane industry.
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Tabloid Readers Shamed
It is not often that we reprint verbatim pieces from other sources but we couldn't resist this one from The Spoof for the obvious reasons:
Editors of the British tabloid press united today to speak-out against those who buy their newspapers.
'They're only interested in sleaze and scandal,' angrily accused one editor. 'For too long they've blackmailed us into harassing celebrities and other public figures, and then compelled us to print pernicious lies about them.'
Another editor, who was too frightened to be identified, tearfully told of how he feared for the safety of his family. 'If I didn't print what those lascivious, sadistic, bigoted bastards demanded,' he sobbed, 'they'd stop buying the paper, and my wife and children would starve.'
Others underlined the courage it had taken to finally stand-up to their readers. 'I couldn't have done it alone,' said the boss of a leading national tabloid. 'The Tabloid Editors' Support Group helped me to realise I wasn't alone. In therapy, we spoke of how we had all come to hate ourselves for dispensing with truth. We had all lain awake at nights mortified at the interest we had generated in celebrities for no purpose other than to later vilify them.'
There is also huge guilt among tabloid journalists about the way their readers have forced them to portray immigrants and young people. 'There are not millions of asylum seekers freely entering Britain, and they are not committing all crime,' protested one reporter, 'but if we even implied this, circulation figures would plummet.'
The same reporter recalled the apology that his newspaper had been compelled to issue when it had inadvertently suggested that not all young people were drunk 24/7 and that not all fourteen-year old girls were pregnant. 'The article had commended the dedication and hard work of young people and the credit they were to Britain,' he revealed. 'My editor had feared that it might lead to violent protests by readers.'
A spokesperson for British tabloid editors confirmed that they were no longer prepared to be the passive and helpless victims of their readerships. She stated that the newspapers had unanimously resolved to gradually move towards a radical new policy of publishing stories that were balanced and factually accurate. She also confirmed that they would be running a series of articles, ruthlessly exposing their readers. 'The reports,' she promised, 'will unflinchingly reveal the truth about how these conscienceless psychopaths have mercilessly driven tabloid journalism to the unsavoury depths that it now plumbs.'
Editors of the British tabloid press united today to speak-out against those who buy their newspapers.
'They're only interested in sleaze and scandal,' angrily accused one editor. 'For too long they've blackmailed us into harassing celebrities and other public figures, and then compelled us to print pernicious lies about them.'
Another editor, who was too frightened to be identified, tearfully told of how he feared for the safety of his family. 'If I didn't print what those lascivious, sadistic, bigoted bastards demanded,' he sobbed, 'they'd stop buying the paper, and my wife and children would starve.'
Others underlined the courage it had taken to finally stand-up to their readers. 'I couldn't have done it alone,' said the boss of a leading national tabloid. 'The Tabloid Editors' Support Group helped me to realise I wasn't alone. In therapy, we spoke of how we had all come to hate ourselves for dispensing with truth. We had all lain awake at nights mortified at the interest we had generated in celebrities for no purpose other than to later vilify them.'
There is also huge guilt among tabloid journalists about the way their readers have forced them to portray immigrants and young people. 'There are not millions of asylum seekers freely entering Britain, and they are not committing all crime,' protested one reporter, 'but if we even implied this, circulation figures would plummet.'
The same reporter recalled the apology that his newspaper had been compelled to issue when it had inadvertently suggested that not all young people were drunk 24/7 and that not all fourteen-year old girls were pregnant. 'The article had commended the dedication and hard work of young people and the credit they were to Britain,' he revealed. 'My editor had feared that it might lead to violent protests by readers.'
A spokesperson for British tabloid editors confirmed that they were no longer prepared to be the passive and helpless victims of their readerships. She stated that the newspapers had unanimously resolved to gradually move towards a radical new policy of publishing stories that were balanced and factually accurate. She also confirmed that they would be running a series of articles, ruthlessly exposing their readers. 'The reports,' she promised, 'will unflinchingly reveal the truth about how these conscienceless psychopaths have mercilessly driven tabloid journalism to the unsavoury depths that it now plumbs.'
New Yarl's Wood Video
The latest news about the 11 women in Yarl's Wood detention centre currently in their sixth week of refusing food.
Friday, 12 March 2010
Re: Sourcing Abuse
Nuala O'Loan, the former Northern Ireland police ombudsman, has finally issued her review of the report 'Outsourcing Abuse' published by Birnberg Peirce & Partners, Medical Justice and the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns almost two and a half years ago. In Ms O'Loan's review for the UK Borders Agency, whilst she found no evidence of the "systematic abuse" alleged in 'Outsourcing Abuse', she did however find that in nearly two-thirds of the 29 complaints she looked into that were either inadequately investigated or no investigation actually took place. In some cases escort staff had not even considered whether the force used was "proportionate and necessary" as required to do by law.
The original report was compiled in response to Home Office criticism of allegations published in the Independent about 200 documented incidences of racist and physical abuse perpetrated against immigration detainees by escort staff. 'Outsourcing Abuse' was in turn based upon a dossier of nearly 300 such cases (pgs 2, 6 & 20) and did not, as has been stated by Ms O'Loan, UKBA (in the guise of Lin Horner*) and the mainstream media(the few that actually chose to cover the story), claim to contain details of all 289 dossier cases, merely that the statistical analysis contained in the report was based on them. Obviously it would be difficult to itemise all 289 cases in a 72 page report, and only 48 case reports were subsequently passed on to the Home Office, with many victims understandably wanting to maintain their anonymity.
Interestingly, one of the reasons why some of those 48 cases could not be examined properly because they had been left in a rat-infested area and had become so contaminated they were a health risk, something that no one in the media has picked up on. Certainly not the UKBA, who in their bizarre and of course bland response state that "some of the earlier (!?!) cases [O'Loan] considered there was a failure to have proper processes in place for dealing with allegations of mistreatment. We have now addressed this.** Her review reflects improvements over the years as to how complaints are investigated, and the additional safeguards that have been built into our processes."
Apparently not, given the denials issued over the brutalisation of the Yarl's Wood hunger strikers and the refusal to consider an inquiry into those allegations either by UKBA itself or the Prisons Inspectorate. Now 11 of the women who have been on hunger strike have been forced to take the government and Serco, the company that runs Yarl's Wood, to court. They allege that their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and their rights not to be tortured, suffer inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment have all been breached by Serco guards. The damages claim specifically refers to an incident on 11 February when the women were locked in a corridor and refused water, access to toilets and medication.
* It should also be noted that Lin Horner, the Chief Executive of UKBA, claims in her foreword to the review that the motivation of Medical Justice et al in publishing the allegations of abuse was to "damage the reputation of our contractors", rather than publicising the abuse suffered by its clients.
8* O'Loan's review makes 22 recommendations and it would be interesting to hear from the UKBA exactly how all 22 had been anticipated and addressed.
The original report was compiled in response to Home Office criticism of allegations published in the Independent about 200 documented incidences of racist and physical abuse perpetrated against immigration detainees by escort staff. 'Outsourcing Abuse' was in turn based upon a dossier of nearly 300 such cases (pgs 2, 6 & 20) and did not, as has been stated by Ms O'Loan, UKBA (in the guise of Lin Horner*) and the mainstream media(the few that actually chose to cover the story), claim to contain details of all 289 dossier cases, merely that the statistical analysis contained in the report was based on them. Obviously it would be difficult to itemise all 289 cases in a 72 page report, and only 48 case reports were subsequently passed on to the Home Office, with many victims understandably wanting to maintain their anonymity.
Interestingly, one of the reasons why some of those 48 cases could not be examined properly because they had been left in a rat-infested area and had become so contaminated they were a health risk, something that no one in the media has picked up on. Certainly not the UKBA, who in their bizarre and of course bland response state that "some of the earlier (!?!) cases [O'Loan] considered there was a failure to have proper processes in place for dealing with allegations of mistreatment. We have now addressed this.** Her review reflects improvements over the years as to how complaints are investigated, and the additional safeguards that have been built into our processes."
Apparently not, given the denials issued over the brutalisation of the Yarl's Wood hunger strikers and the refusal to consider an inquiry into those allegations either by UKBA itself or the Prisons Inspectorate. Now 11 of the women who have been on hunger strike have been forced to take the government and Serco, the company that runs Yarl's Wood, to court. They allege that their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and their rights not to be tortured, suffer inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment have all been breached by Serco guards. The damages claim specifically refers to an incident on 11 February when the women were locked in a corridor and refused water, access to toilets and medication.
* It should also be noted that Lin Horner, the Chief Executive of UKBA, claims in her foreword to the review that the motivation of Medical Justice et al in publishing the allegations of abuse was to "damage the reputation of our contractors", rather than publicising the abuse suffered by its clients.
8* O'Loan's review makes 22 recommendations and it would be interesting to hear from the UKBA exactly how all 22 had been anticipated and addressed.
Thursday, 11 March 2010
Yarl's Wood Mother's Day Demonstration
We are calling a demonstration at 12pm on Sunday, 14 March in solidarity with the women on hunger strike in Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre. We join these women in their protest against the detention of migrants. We support their bravery and we oppose immigration laws that restrict the freedom of movement of those in need.
We have chosen to act on Mother’s Day to highlight the cruel way that migrant women, many of whom have come to the UK to seek respite from violence and torture, have been separated from their families for no good reason and at little notice. They have since been subjected to further violence and humiliation within the immigration centre.
We support the hunger strikers at Yarl’s Wood in all of the demands that they have issued. We support the hunger strikers at Harmondsworth Immigration Centre and in immigration centres in Italy. We are acting to express our disgust at immigration laws and to re-affirm the belief that freedom of movement is a human right. We are outraged by the fact that Serco are controlling the Yarl’s Wood Immigration Centre in the interest of private profit. We oppose the idea of national borders and nation-states as a whole and we do not believe that there is any such thing as an illegal human being.
We invite those who share in our beliefs, and anyone who opposes the detention of migrants, the abuse of women and the separation of families, to join us at 12 pm on Sunday, 14 March. Bring voices, whistles, drums and anything else that makes a noise: we want the hunger strikers to know that we are with them, and that they are not alone on Mother’s Day.
Hope to see you there...
Yarl's Wood Migrant Solidarity
yarlswoodsolidarity@hushmail.com
Map of the location of Yarl's Wood.
We have chosen to act on Mother’s Day to highlight the cruel way that migrant women, many of whom have come to the UK to seek respite from violence and torture, have been separated from their families for no good reason and at little notice. They have since been subjected to further violence and humiliation within the immigration centre.
We support the hunger strikers at Yarl’s Wood in all of the demands that they have issued. We support the hunger strikers at Harmondsworth Immigration Centre and in immigration centres in Italy. We are acting to express our disgust at immigration laws and to re-affirm the belief that freedom of movement is a human right. We are outraged by the fact that Serco are controlling the Yarl’s Wood Immigration Centre in the interest of private profit. We oppose the idea of national borders and nation-states as a whole and we do not believe that there is any such thing as an illegal human being.
We invite those who share in our beliefs, and anyone who opposes the detention of migrants, the abuse of women and the separation of families, to join us at 12 pm on Sunday, 14 March. Bring voices, whistles, drums and anything else that makes a noise: we want the hunger strikers to know that we are with them, and that they are not alone on Mother’s Day.
Hope to see you there...
Yarl's Wood Migrant Solidarity
yarlswoodsolidarity@hushmail.com
Map of the location of Yarl's Wood.
Calais Town Hall Banner Hang
Yesterday afternoon a banner reading "Solidarite avec les sans papiers" was hung from the scaffolding on the town hall in Calais. While the local council tries to clean up its municipal image, they cannot hide the dire situation being faced by hundreds of migrants on the streets of the town. Not carrying their identity documents in solidarity with the migrants they have been working with these last few days, the three people arrested during the action are currently being held inside the police station for an ID check and questioning.Calais Migrant Solidarity blog
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
Red Road Residents March & Rally, Glasgow
Saturday 13 March 11.00am*
Starting at Red Road flats, 63 Petershill Drive, Glasgow G21
Marching to a rally in George Square
The march, organised by Red Road residents, Glasgow Campaign to Welcome Refugees and the Unity Centre, will begin at the exact spot of grass where a family of three asylum seekers, the Serykh family, fell to their deaths on Sunday 7 March.
These tragic deaths in the Red Road must be the last. The scapegoating and persecution of asylum seekers must stop. Please raise the event in your organisations and add their names to the list of supporters. The residents of the Red Road and all other asylum seekers and refugees need and deserve our support. Make this march huge so that the politicians and the media get the message loud and clear - Refugees are welcome here!
The purpose of the march and rally is to:
1. Remember the Serykh family and call for an immediate end to any further forced removals of refugee families in the Red road area by the UK Borders Agency (UKBA) ; and
2. Call for the immediate return of Stephanie Ovranah and her twin six year old sons, Joshua and Joel, to their friends, neighbours and local church in Glasgow's Cranhill where they have lived for past five five years. (The family were detained at Brand Street reporting centre without warning last Friday with the children still in their school uniforms. They are currently in Yarl's Wood Detention Centre and the children are understood to be terrified of being returned to Africa which they do not know or remember).
SAY IT LOUD, SAY IT CLEAR: REFUGEES ARE WELCOME HERE!
Starting at Red Road flats, 63 Petershill Drive, Glasgow G21
Marching to a rally in George Square
The march, organised by Red Road residents, Glasgow Campaign to Welcome Refugees and the Unity Centre, will begin at the exact spot of grass where a family of three asylum seekers, the Serykh family, fell to their deaths on Sunday 7 March.
These tragic deaths in the Red Road must be the last. The scapegoating and persecution of asylum seekers must stop. Please raise the event in your organisations and add their names to the list of supporters. The residents of the Red Road and all other asylum seekers and refugees need and deserve our support. Make this march huge so that the politicians and the media get the message loud and clear - Refugees are welcome here!
The purpose of the march and rally is to:
1. Remember the Serykh family and call for an immediate end to any further forced removals of refugee families in the Red road area by the UK Borders Agency (UKBA) ; and
2. Call for the immediate return of Stephanie Ovranah and her twin six year old sons, Joshua and Joel, to their friends, neighbours and local church in Glasgow's Cranhill where they have lived for past five five years. (The family were detained at Brand Street reporting centre without warning last Friday with the children still in their school uniforms. They are currently in Yarl's Wood Detention Centre and the children are understood to be terrified of being returned to Africa which they do not know or remember).
SAY IT LOUD, SAY IT CLEAR: REFUGEES ARE WELCOME HERE!
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