Campaigners hold second protest against Arora Hotels
one of noborders | 05.11.2009 19:07 | Migration
Campaigners hold second protest against plans to turn Gatwick hotel into a detention centre
5th November 2009, 7pm
* Arora Management Services Ltd plans to turn its four-star Mercure Gatwick hotel into an immigration detention centre.
* Campaigners vow to target Arora and Mercure until the plans are dropped.
Anti-detention campaigners are currently holding a peaceful protest at the Mercure London City Bankside Hotel (71-79 Southwark Street SE1 0JA) against what they describe as the hotel company's "cynical, profit-driven opportunism." They are distributing leaflets to staff and guests, demanding that Mercure/Arora drops its plans to turn one of its hotels into an immigration prison.
5th November 2009, 7pm
* Arora Management Services Ltd plans to turn its four-star Mercure Gatwick hotel into an immigration detention centre.
* Campaigners vow to target Arora and Mercure until the plans are dropped.
Anti-detention campaigners are currently holding a peaceful protest at the Mercure London City Bankside Hotel (71-79 Southwark Street SE1 0JA) against what they describe as the hotel company's "cynical, profit-driven opportunism." They are distributing leaflets to staff and guests, demanding that Mercure/Arora drops its plans to turn one of its hotels into an immigration prison.
Arora Management Services Ltd has applied to Crawley Borough Council for planning permission to turn its four-star Mercure Gatwick Hotel into an immigration detention centre. If the planning permission is granted, the hotel will be converted into a secure prison and the 245 bedrooms into single and family cells.
Like other private companies that run privatised detention centres across the country, Arora is trying to sell its plan by arguing that locating detention centres at airports would make deportations easier and less costly for the government.
Gatwick airport already has two detention centres: Tinsley House, which can hold 125 male and female detainees, and the newly opened Brook House, which can hold 426. Both are run by private security company G4S.
One of the protesters Dan Rosenthal said: "We are disgusted by these plans to make yet another detention centre. Already the UK's immigration detention centres hold thousands of people every year, sometimes for months or even years at a time, whilst the government tries to deport them to so-called safe countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq. This is just another example of cynical, profit-driven opportunism of big companies."
Notes:
1. The planning application CR/2009/0421/COU, with all the relevant documents, can be viewed on the Crawley Borough Council website (follow this link to open the page:
http://tinyurl.com/AroraApp).
2. Established in 1999, Arora International Hotels is one of the UK's fastest growing privately owned hotel companies, with six luxury hotels in and around Heathrow and Gatwick airports and one in Manchester city centre. For more details about the hotels and their locations, see Arora's website at http://www.arorainternational.com.
3. The first protest against Arora/Mercure took place on 6th November,
report here: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/10/439285.html
http://london.noborders.org.uk.
Like other private companies that run privatised detention centres across the country, Arora is trying to sell its plan by arguing that locating detention centres at airports would make deportations easier and less costly for the government.
Gatwick airport already has two detention centres: Tinsley House, which can hold 125 male and female detainees, and the newly opened Brook House, which can hold 426. Both are run by private security company G4S.
One of the protesters Dan Rosenthal said: "We are disgusted by these plans to make yet another detention centre. Already the UK's immigration detention centres hold thousands of people every year, sometimes for months or even years at a time, whilst the government tries to deport them to so-called safe countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq. This is just another example of cynical, profit-driven opportunism of big companies."
Notes:
1. The planning application CR/2009/0421/COU, with all the relevant documents, can be viewed on the Crawley Borough Council website (follow this link to open the page:
http://tinyurl.com/AroraApp). 2. Established in 1999, Arora International Hotels is one of the UK's fastest growing privately owned hotel companies, with six luxury hotels in and around Heathrow and Gatwick airports and one in Manchester city centre. For more details about the hotels and their locations, see Arora's website at
http://www.arorainternational.com. 3. The first protest against Arora/Mercure took place on 6th November,
report here:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/10/439285.html http://london.noborders.org.uk.
one of noborders
