The violent disorder witnessed on our streets following the tragic events in Southport have shocked all decent people. Against this background of a rise in racist right wing aggression against migrants and asylum seekers, human rights campaigners will once again be at the Hassockfield/Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) today, Saturday 17 August at 12-2pm to peacefully demonstrate their support for the women who are imprisoned there.
They will repeat their calls for the centre to be closed saying:
“Immigration detention is unnecessary, cruel and isolating.”
Unnecessary: Most people who are detained are eventually released back into the community where they were before, to continue their asylum cases.
Cruel: The UK is the only member of the Council of Europe that puts no time limit on how long migrants seeking sanctuary can be detained. People can therefore be detained for months on end, which causes huge harm to an individual’s mental health and wellbeing.
Isolating: The remote location of Derwentside and poor phone signal makes it difficult for people to maintain contact with their loved ones, and hampers access to support.
Annual report
And it’s not just local campaigners who think Derwentside IRC should be closed. In its second annual report, published on 17 July 2024, the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) at Derwentside IRC again highlights the isolated and remote location of the women’s immigration centre, and its inadequate communications infrastructure, as matters of concern. The monitors, who visit the centre every week, report that many of the women detained at Derwentside are vulnerable, and suffering with mental health issues, and yet they are subjected to lengthy and frequent journeys, sometimes at night. The IMB describes this treatment as being, in some respects, inhumane; at the very least it is unequal to the provision for men, as male detention centres are located much closer to principal airports.
The IMB reports that during 2023:
- Vulnerable women were held in detention beyond their authorised release because of difficulties in obtaining or approving suitable accommodation; in some cases this lasted for months.
- Two years after the centre opened, important facilities were still not available. This includes the care suites, which has resulted in those at risk of suicide being under constant supervision on residential units.
- The provision for education and other purposeful activities was reduced and, in the IMB’s view, no longer adequate.
Renzo Szkwarok
On Saturday Renzo Szkwarok will be walking from Gibside National Trust to join the demonstration.
Renzo Szkwarok explains;
‘On Saturday 17 August I will be walking from Gibside National Trust to Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre. This is to coincide with a planned demonstration outside the IRC showing solidarity with the people who are detained and is part of the research for my MA dissertation.
I am exploring how the remoteness of this local landscape makes immigration detention even more inhumane. However, I am keen to highlight how community action is countering this isolation and continuing to show solidarity with detainees and the wider refugee, migrant, and asylum seeker community through this hostile time of far right violence.’
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO OUR CROWDFUNDER
HELP US BECOME STRONGER SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO DELIVER POWERFUL CITIZEN JOURNALISM!
