http://www.bedsonsunday.com/bedsonsunday/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=361184

25 October 2008

BY KEELEY KNOWLES

A detainee at Yarl's Wood was denied access to a legal help guide containing tips on how to frustrate the removal process, it is claimed.

Yarl's Wood

Earlier this month, Mercy Wanjiku, says that she was forced to open her post in front of staff at the Detention Centre near Clapham.

She claims a self-help guide, which she needed for a legal hearing days later, was confiscated from her and she was told that it was illegal for her to have the book.

This would be in breach of Detention Centre Rules which state that no letter to a detained person may be opened, read or stopped except if the manager believes that its contents may endanger the security of the centre of the safety of others or if it is of a criminal nature.

Although a spokesman for the UK Border Agency would not officially confirm it, the booklet is believed to have had a section which gave detainees advice on how to frustrate the removal process such as showing people their injuries.

Ms Wanjiku has made an official complaint about the incident to the UK Border Agency and Serco, which runs the centre.

A spokesman for Legal Action for Women, which provides the booklet for detainees said: "Hundreds of women have relied on this guide for crucial information on their case.

"We are extremely careful not to lay ourselves open to accusation and there is a section on what to do if the women are at the airport which gives tips such as communicating to everyone around you about what is happening.

"These women have a right to speak to other people and many of them are in fear of being tortured if they return to their native country.

"The authorities should be bending over backwards to help these women and this is one of many obstructions we see taking place at Yarl's Wood."

A spokesman for the UK Border Agency said: "All detainees are treated with dignity and compassion and any report or allegation of inappropriate treatment against detainees is taken seriously.

"There is an independent complaints system, with the opportunity to refer complaints to the Prison and Probation Ombudsman.

"Detainees can also lodge any complaint to members of the Independent Monitoring Boards who operate in all immigration removal centres."