Politicians and rights activists lead the fight against government abuses, writes LOUISE NOUSRATPOUR.
Wednesday July 18, 2007
The Morning Star
AN influential panel of politicians, lawyers and rights activists joined militant women refugees on Tuesday to form a united front against an increasingly repressive and abusive government asylum policy.
The House of Commons meeting focused on the detention of asylum-seeking women and children at Yarl's Wood prison, which was the scene of a hunger strike in May against deteriorating conditions following private company Serco's takeover in April.
According to Legal Action for Women, over 70 per cent of the detainees are rape victims, some 15 per cent have suffered torture, more than 44 per cent are mothers and 5.5 per cent are pregnant.
This contradicts government guidelines that torture victims and vulnerable people should not be detained.
Black Women Against Rape Project spokeswoman Cristel Amiss stormed: "We will not allow this to pass as 'mistakes.'
"This is a deliberate strategy by an increasingly repressive government, which sees women and children as easy targets."
Chairing the Misjudging Asylum, Rape and Detention meeting Labour MP John McDonnell said: "We must lobby the government for change and recognise the strength we have got when we come together."
The positive outcome of the Yarl's Wood hunger strike is a sobering example of how strength in unity can force the authorites to retreat.
"As hundreds of individuals, politicians and organisations rallied to the detainees' cause, Serco management was forced to halt deportations, release 11 women and abandoned some of its most draconian policies."
Black Women Against Rape Project spokeswoman Cristel Amiss hailed the outcome as "a tremendous victory."
Security privateer Serco "has been awarded a £87 million government contract to effectively lock women and children up," she said, adding: "The detention of asylum-seekers has to stop. Full stop."
One of those released was a Jamaican woman refugee, known only as Ms W.
She described how she had been detained and threatened with deportation in May while pursuing a complaint against Stoke Newington police in east London for allegedly raping her son during a stop-and-search operation.
"When I asked my MP, Diane Abbot, for help, she turned me away, saying that she could not believe police in Britain would do such a thing," she said, sobbing.
Rape victim Jenipher Maseko, whose breastfeeding children were torn from her while in Yarl's Wood, was also released after Home Office officials were bombarded with hundreds of angry letters from the public.
The 18-year-old Ugandan mother told her story of how she had been left destitute and homeless by the British authorities while pregnant with her second child.
Birth Crisis activist Tess Kitzinger condemned the detention of pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers, warning that lack of appropriate facilities, food and access to social support was putting their lives at risk.
"The Prison Service has co-opted some in the medical profession, with midwives standing by as pregnant women are abused and shackled as doctors give pre-entry examinations to confirm that a child is 'fit' for imprisonment," she said.
"It is obvious that the system is inhumane and against the very vulnerable in society."
King's College London professor in midwifery Lesley Page said that she represented those in the profession, who are prepared to fight to "right a system that is so wrong.
"The government's social exclusion agenda and 'every child matters' programme doesn't seem to include asylum-seekers and their children," she added.
Garden Court Chambers barrister Louise Hooper condemned the government's decision to cut legal aid, pointing out: "People are being unlawfully removed and suffer abuse at the hands of the authorities because they don't have access to legal representation."
According to Legal Action for Women, a staggering 57 per cent of Yarl's Wood detainees have no legal representation and 20 per cent have lawyers who demand cash before taking action.
Mr McDonnell promised to ferociously fight in Parliament against the injustice.
Speakers also attacked some voluntary organistions for collaborating with the Home Office and doing its dirty work.
Ms Amiss urged voluntary organisations to "stop collaborating with the government on removals or they will be named and shamed."
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