Hunger Strike at Haslar Immigration Removal Centre

Governor Mel Jones
Haslar Immigration Removal Centre
2 Dolphin Way
Gosport
Hants PO12 2AW
Fax 02392 604001

15 May 2003

Dear Governor Jones

Re: Hunger Strike at Haslar Immigration Removal Centre

We are writing to urge you to address the concerns and demands of detainees who have been on hunger strike from Monday 12 May until Friday 16 May 2003.

Although Haslar is defined as a Removal Centre, it houses in prison conditions many asylum seekers and immigration detainees whose case are still pending and who will not be removed. People detained in this Centre come from all parts of the world escaping economic and political violence, many are Black, some are ill or have disabilities caused by the torture they suffered.

We are outraged that vulnerable people who have suffered persecution and torture are being held in such conditions. Detainees have already been on hunger strike between 22 to 24 April. Despite the many letters sent to the Home Office listing a number of grievances outstanding for a very long time, none have been resolved:

We support the detainees' demands for an end to :

* Bad and often not properly cooked food, poor choice of food and canteen facilities
* Inadequate medical services; poor quality and often broken hygienic equipment
* Only 50p a day pocket money
* Psychological conditions of Haslar: a prison environment which is very undermining when people have committed no crime; rude staff who rarely assist detainees to access particularly Home Office immigration officials on site; detainees are not kept informed of their situation and their claim.

The detainees' grievances have been confirmed by independent observers. In a damning report published on 8 April 2003, the Chief Inspector of Prisons has confirmed all the Haslar Visitor Group's criticisms of Haslar Removal Centre:

* Conditions in detention are abysmal - dirty, decayed and overcrowded buildings, broken furniture, 'disengaged' staff.
* There is very poor access to lawyers and courts - men are sometimes not taken to their court hearings at all and often taken very late.
* Men are often removed to other countries in the clothes they stand up in with no opportunity to collect their property or sort out their affairs.
* "We could not conclude that detainees were treated with respect.
Staff appeared to lack understanding or concern for detainees and showed insufficient interest in their welfare"
* "We could not conclude that Haslar succeeded in making proper provision for detainees to keep in touch with the outside world through phone calls and visits, nor that they were able to make sufficient preparation for their release, transfer or removal."

We know that these conditions have led to many detainees attempting self-harm and suicide. Ukrainian asylum seeker, 42-year-old Mikhail Bognarchuk, was found hanged by his shoelaces in a toilet at Haslar Removal Centre on 31 January 2003.

We also call on you not to use force to stop this legitimate protest against inhuman conditions. Many remember that on 10 September 2001, the prison authority sent in riot squads against detainees peacefully protesting against their conditions of detention.

The detention of people who have not committed a crime is against all natural justice. and we will continue to press for the end of all detention for asylum seekers and immigrant people. We urge you to take immediately all the necessary measures to respond positively to the detainees' demands.

Yours sincerely,


Sara Callaway  Ben Martin
BWWFH          Payday

 
Cc Home Secretary, David Blunkett MP Fax: 020 7273 3965
No Borders Brighton   nooneisillegal2002@yahoo.co.uk
NCADC   ncadc@ncadc.org.uk

Black Women for Wages for Housework / Payday
Crossroads Women's Centre
PO Box 287 London NW6 5QU, England
Tel 0207 482 2496