Women detainees & ex-detainees in Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre are fighting by every means necessary to win freedom and stop deportations. They have exposed the abuse - verbal, sexual, physical and psychological that they routinely have to endure from guards and staff in this prison for people with no charge, no trial and no conviction; these are women who have committed no crime, who have simply sought safety, security and freedom for themselves and their families.
Putting Yarl's Wood on Public Trial: you will hear former detainees testify to their experience of fighting back, confronting a racist & sexist regime of legal, psychological and physical abuse. We will bring to light the racism & sexism of the immigration system, in the court of public opinion. Charges will be laid and you will take part in delivering a verdict. By organising relentlessly, collectively, by every means necessary and speaking the plain truth about racism and sexism, our community can experience the strength of a mass movement and wield that power to defend against any attacks we face. The example set down by the women of Yarl's Wood demonstrates that by employing a range of tactics - from public hearings, petitions, filing legal claims to win the right to remain, to demonstrating, and physically resisting border agent thugs; the hearings that victory is possible; the women of Yarl's Wood have been winning and we can learn apply those lessons & tactics to all of our struggles. Our first hearing in Manchester - home to Sirah Jeng - will put on trial the attempted cover-up of sexual abuse within detention. Sirah is a leader in Yarl's Wood and has been detained five times since2011 in the last few years. She has stood up both for herself and all the detainee's in the face of extensive harassment by the UKBA over the years. But when Sirah came forward as an eye-witness to a guard's sexual abuse of a detainee that the UKBA rushed to re-detain her and made a serious attempt to deport her back to the Gambia which was thwarted by the actions of hundreds of people inside and outside of detention. In October 2012 a Movement for Justice Group was formed in Yarls Wood, this was their founding words...
"We are women held against our will in Yarl's Wood detention centre, with no charge and no sentence. We have formed a Movement for Justice group to stand up together and fight for our freedom and the freedom of all women not to be detained. Between us we have faced persecution in many forms - as lesbian, bisexual, and as straight women. Most of us are on 'Fast Track', a procedure designed to deport as many people as possible before they know what is really happening. We come from, every region of Africa, the Middle East, Pakistan and the Caribbean, and we welcome many more to join us. We are leaders because we speak the truth about oppression wherever it is, we are committed to fighting for our collective rights and dignity, and to end the racist, sexist and abusive detention system. There is no 'crime' in seeking freedom, safety and the chance to live free."
The exposure of sexual abuse in The Observer (15/09/13) only happened because a victim bravely went public about her legal action against the Home Office. There are many stories to be told, many voices to be heard and a movement Is growing inside detention and outside to SHUT DOWN YARL'S WOOD once and for all.
- Movement For Justice
http://www.movementforjustice.org/
https://www.facebook.com/movementforjustice