Monthly protest outside County Durham Immigration Facility

Protesters staged simultaneous demonstrations outside Derwentside IRC, formerly known as Hassockfield Training Centre, in Medomsley, County Durham, and at a similar facility, Yarl’s Wood, in Bedfordshire.

The rally in Medomsley is now a monthly event ostensibly showing “solidarity” with the women campaigners say are being “violently detained” and a protest against the detention of those “seeking refuge “.

Protesters say immigrant detention is “an unnecessary and cruel practice which has no place in a democratic and free society” and want to see the centers closed.

Continue reading: Mother’s Day protest outside Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre

Members of the campaign group say those detained at Yarl’s Wood are facing increased restrictions after 13 people escaped in late April.

It took place after a protest against the conditions in the center and almost all the refugees have now been located.

Detainees at Yarl’s Wood had gone on hunger strikes before and those protesting today cited a history of failed inspections due to poor conditions and allegations of sexual abuse.

Monthly rally calling for the closure of the Derwentside Immigration Removal Center in County Durham (Image: Contributor)

Sam Bjorn, spokesman for Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants (LGSM), who organized the Yarl’s Wood demonstration, said: “We stand in solidarity with the people at Derwentside Detention Center and with the protesters demanding their release.

“Even though we are hundreds of kilometers away, together we demand an end to the detention and violent border regime.

“We refuse to look the other way while the state imprisons and brutalizes people because they want to live free.

“People fleeing danger or just trying to rebuild their lives.

“As long as this atrocity continues, so will our resistance.”

Many of the women on Derwentside IRC are said to have been previously imprisoned in Yarl’s Wood.

Despite only being open 18 months, Derwentside IRC has already faced criticism.

Protesters said a report by the HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) following an inspection of the prison in August last year criticized the treatment and behavior of staff towards prisoners and pointed out that failures in leadership and governance resulted in that women who were at risk of suicide and self-harm were imprisoned for inadequate care.

A spokesman for Abolish Detention: Hassockfield, which helped organize the protests, said: “Today’s demonstration shows our opposition to Derwentside and all other similar centres.”

“We stand in solidarity with everyone who has been jailed by the UK government.

“This month we would particularly like to show our support to those jailed in Derwentside and elsewhere, to those who have had to flee the oppressive and restrictive conditions in Yarl’s Wood last month and to the thousands of people across the UK and around the world .” world that still bears the scars of the British government’s regime of detention.”

She said the group “will not rest” until the centers are closed, adding, “None of us are free until we are all free.”

Continue reading: Derwentside Immigration Removal Center is criticized by the inspector

The protest in Medomsley was described as “very powerful”.

Activists said they were able to talk to the detained women over the fence.

In response to their shouts of “shut it up” and “set them free,” the women inside reportedly urged the protesters to tear down the walls and asked them to provide them with food.

Continue reading:

* Protest in Durham against the Derwentside Immigration Removal Center

* Derwentside Immigration Centre: Protesters were arrested trying to stop deportation flights

* Plans announced to build a prison-style immigration camp on the site of the former Hassockfield Detention Center

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In response to criticism of the centres, the Home Office said: “The government is fighting illegal immigration and the damage it causes by targeting foreign criminals who have broken our laws and those who have no right to reside in the United Kingdom kingdom, removed from the land.”

“Immigrant detention plays a crucial role in controlling our borders, which the public has a right to expect, and decisions about detention are made on a case-by-case basis.

“The dignity and well-being of those held in immigration detention are of paramount importance and we have policies, procedures and trained professionals in place at each detention center to protect individuals and support their physical and mental health.”