Standing in solidarity with the women in Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre

Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre opened in December 2021 with the primary purpose of locking up women sanctuary seekers, a process otherwise known as detention. In a week when the Conservative government is attempting to pass legislation regarding their cruel and hugely expensive Rwanda Plan’ human rights campaigners stood again in solidarity,with the women seeking sanctuary locked up inside Derwentside IRC. 

On 1 September 2023 the £70 million pound contract for running Derwentside Immigration Removal Prison for women moved from MITIE to Serco, a multinational company working in over 70 countries with an income of £4.5 billion, making over £237 million pounds of profit delivering ‘public services’. In 2020 the government gave £200mn  to Serco to run Yarl’s Wood, Brook House and Tinsley House Immigration Removal Centres. No To Hassockfield campaigners feel strongly that £270 million pounds could be much better spent on compassionate, practical and cheaperalternatives to detention.

Alternatives to detention

The evaluation report of Home Office funded projects, jointly sponsored with UNHCR, provided helpful and objective evidence regarding alternatives to detention. The first project run by Action Foundation in Newcastle along with the second, run by the King’s Arms Project in Bedford, sought to provide holistic case management, outside of immigration detention, for each participant. Project findings concluded that these alternatives were compassionate, practical and cheaper than detaining people.

80% of the cohort involved in the two studies went on to be offered a viable route to regularise their status. These were people, who were considered to be at the end of the process and would otherwise have been detained. The evidence clearly showed these alternatives to be compassionate, practical and cheaper than detaining people. 

Comments on Derwentside and the campaign

Julie Ward, a former Member of the European Parliament and human rights campaigner, said;

“I am appalled at the current direction of travel in the UK. The flagrant disregard for international humanitarian law and the increasing ‘hostile environment’ have served to besmirch our international reputation in respect of those seeking sanctuary, many of whom have family and cultural ties here. 

“I have been to Rwanda many times and I can say that it is not a safe country for people who disagree with the ruling party, or for those who identify as LGBT+. Lord Alf Dubs, who was himself a child refugee, spoke at one of our early No To Hassockfield campaign meetings, reminding us that no-one is illegal. Along with other peers from across the political spectrum he is now working hard to challenge the government in the House of Lords where bishops have also raised their concerns about the ‘Rwanda Plan’. 

“I firmly believe we have no business locking up vulnerable people who have risked their lives to reach our shores in search of sanctuary and sustainable lives. The sooner Derwentside IRC is shut down the better. I look forward to the day when we no longer have to demonstrate about this stain on our community and can put public money to a better use.”

A former detainee at Derwentside said;

“I arrived via human trafficking…detention in Derwentside has merely been a continuation of a life of coordinated violence and abuse against me. No change from before, just adding to a life of trauma, with no end in sight.”

Dr. Helen Groom from No To Hassockfield said;

“The government needs to understand that ordinary people don’t believe in this cruel, inhumane and expensive flagship policy. They see through it and want to see the UK develop a decent, humane policy to support those who risk their lives fleeing persecution, war and sexual violence. Politicians need to understand that we should be developing credible, humane and robust pathways for assessing claims in a speedy, considerate and compassionate manner.

“The seven Immigration Detention Centres in the UK are run by two multinational companies, Serco and Mitie, at a cost of hundreds of millions of pounds to the taxpayer. Many of the jobs within the centres are low paid with a high turnover of staff. The alternatives to detention pilots have shown that when local NGOs work with the Home Office the costs are reduced. We believe that investing money into local community organisations, who will employ local people to undertake demanding but fulfilling jobs, supporting those seeking asylum, is likely to see more  investment in the local community and provide higher job satisfaction. There has to be a better way to support those seeking sanctuary than the current cruel and unjust methods being used by the Conservative government”

Since 2014, when over 300 women were held in detention, the number of women in detention has continued to fall. The most recent official statistics show that at the end of December 2023, there were 86 women in detention. The UK government has acknowledged the harms caused by detention, and could end their use of immigration detention for women now, especially considering the low number of women detained.