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London April 2006 No Borders Days of Action

10-04-2006 06:11 | 5 additions | 1 comment

Hunger Strike in Colnbrook Detention Centre

Side view of Colnbrook. No, it's not a prison, they say, just a detention centre

Updates: 27th April: Some remain on hunger strike.
24th April: The hunger strike in Colnbrook seems to have ended [Timeline | Solidarity Page]. Meanwhile, around 20 Turkish Kurdish detainees in Harmondsworth began a hunger strike on 20 April.
17 April: About 25 detainees in Haslar have staged a peaceful protest in the courtyard early this afernoon and are still there, refusing to re-enter the building. There are also news that the hunger strike have spread to Tinsley House.
15 April: More than 120 detainees in Haslar detention centre, Protsmoth, have gone on hunger strike in protest againts arbitrary detention and in solidariety with the detainees in Colnbrook.

In protest at their inhumane treatment by security guards during the No Borders demonstration last Saturday (8th April, 2006), over 150 detainees in Colnbrook detention centre went on hunger strike. According to the latest updates, nearly 100 of them are still on indefinite hunger strike. A delegation from the Home Office is supposed to pay them a visit to hear their demands for release. [Strike update 17/04]

The hunger strikers have been subject to repression from Colnbrook’s management, with one detainee, deemed to be the "organiser" of the protest, having been locked in an isolation cell on Saturday night, then later removed to another detention centre.

Many of the people inside Colnbrook have been there for over 6 months, with some being detained for up to 3 years. There is no automatic bail review process for immigrants who are being detained. Last January, a detainee at Harmondsworth Detention Centre took his own life out of despair. Fellow detainees responded with a one-day hunger strike and a written statement about their conditions and treatment in detention.

On Thursday 13, a solidarity protest took place outside the Home Office building in central London [Report and Pics]. This had been urgently called by London No Borders and The Square Social Centre. On Satuday 15 No Borders fundraiser also took place in London. And on Thursday 20 Cardiff saw another solidarity demonstration called by the No Borders South Wales group.

Read: initial reports [1] [2] | press release | detainee tells of beatings in Colnbrook (video)

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08-04-2006 11:58 | 6 additions | 3 comments

Noborders Demo at Harmondsworth Detention Centre

The main demo as seen from pavement walking towards the footpath

Harmondsworth, 8 April 2006. Around 300 people from London, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Brighton, Reading and Cardiff demonstrated at the Harmondsworth and Colnbrook detention centres near Heathrow to ensure that "those inside will hear our voices and know that they are not alone." The call out for the demonstration was made by London No Borders, the Campaign to Close Heathrow Detention Centres, London Against Detention, and The Square Occupied Social Centre in solidarity with the Noborder actions in Australia [see the NCADC report].

There was a large police presence and they prevented detainees and demonstrators from establishing a line of sight: the demo was not allowed to take place in the field where detainees could see it from their windows. Security guards also prevented detainees from accessing the centre's exercise yard and didn't even allow them to approach the windows. Some detainees were reportedly beaten up when they protested against these restrictions. In response, some 150 detainees in Colnbrook have gone on hunger strike [Read press release on updated situation in Colnbrook].

Many phone calls from detainees were passed on to the demonstrators via a small sound system. Former detainees also gave live testimonies of their own experience in detention [Sekindi's speech]. Meanwhile, about 40 people managed to make their way around the side of Colnbrook where detainees could see and hear them from the windows, and they spent a long time communicating with people inside, before being moved on by the police.

See the full timeline of events
Reports and Pics: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Audio reports
Videos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

In Glasgow, around 300 asylum seekers, refugees, sans-papiers, Unity activists, and their supporters marched from the Home Office Reporting Centre in Ibrox to a rally in the Carnival Arts Centre in town calling for the right to work and an end to deportations. On Monday, 10th April, the All African Women's Group and other organisations protested outside Communications House in London in solidarity with international actions for immigration and asylum rights, and against detention.

In Manchester, a demo and rally [more] were held on 15 April under the slogan "Manchester: city of detention, destitution and deportation". On the same day, the offices of Ethiopian Airlines in London were targetted by anti-deportation activists. Their locks were glued and anti-deportation slogans were painted over their office and in the surrounding area.

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Newswire

Text URGENT: stop the deportation of Antony Aghayere, tomorrow, Thursday
12-07-2006 11:00 | 1 addition

Text update on colnbrook
12-05-2006 10:06

Text Update on Colnbrook Hunger Strike - 10th May 2006
10-05-2006 09:19

Text Colnbrook - more repression
08-05-2006 18:10 | 3 additions

Text Fight the racist control of the media
04-05-2006 01:34 | 2 additions

Text More4 video report on hunger strike and beatings
02-05-2006 23:03 | 1 addition

Text SOLIDARITY TO THE HUNGER STRIKERS / CLOSE ALL DETENTION CENTERES
30-04-2006 00:18

Image Asylum Is Not A Crime – Indymedia/No Borders Film Night
28-04-2006 11:22 | 1 addition

Text THE HUNGER STRIKE HAS NOT ENDED.
28-04-2006 07:20

Text More4 News report tonight 8pm hunger strike and detainee beating
27-04-2006 12:34

Text Colnbrook Hungerstrike Solidarity Page
26-04-2006 16:24

Text Colnsbrook Hungerstrike - Timeline
25-04-2006 23:55

Text Update on Detention Centre Hunger Strikes
25-04-2006 23:49

Text NUJ Journalist detained at Harmondsworth demo, April 8
25-04-2006 01:09

Text Cardiff Demo in Solidarity with Colnbrook/Haslar Hunger Strike
22-04-2006 12:06 | 1 addition

Video No Borders Harmondsworth demo movie part 2
19-04-2006 03:18

Video No Borders Harmondsworth demo movie part 1
19-04-2006 03:07

Image Refugee Rights Protest Hits Kirribilli House
17-04-2006 07:42 | 1 addition

Text Anti-Deportation Solidarity Action at Ethiopian Airlines
15-04-2006 11:16 | 1 addition

Text Latest videos, saturday, plus live music
14-04-2006 16:28

Image Solidarity Protest for the Hunger Strikers at Colnbrook Detention Centre
14-04-2006 14:25

Text Detainee hunger strike on Greatreporter.com
14-04-2006 04:44

Text Indymedia Radio London Show (mp3) - 12th April 2006
12-04-2006 19:59

Image APRIL 15th - BIG NO BORDERS Fundraiser @ The Square
11-04-2006 14:12

Text 100 Migrants in Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre on Hunger Strike
10-04-2006 22:25

Image Asylum & Immigrations Protest at Communications House
10-04-2006 21:49

Video April 8 anti-deportation demo - detainee tell of beatings in Colnbrook
10-04-2006 21:07

Video April 8 anti-deportation demo - detainee via mobile phone speech
10-04-2006 20:18

Video April 8 anti-deportation demo - Ex-detainee and protestor speeches
10-04-2006 19:12

Video April 8 anti-deportation demo - Harmondsworth detention centre, short
10-04-2006 17:41

Text A Personal Account of the No Borders Demo at Harmondsworth Detention Centre
10-04-2006 12:43 | 1 addition

Image (Harmondsworth) Asylum detainees go on hunger strike
10-04-2006 10:36

Text COLNBROOK HUNGERSTRIKE - SOLIDARITY NEEDED
10-04-2006 09:51

Video 8-4-06 No Borders - Yarl's Wood detainee speech
10-04-2006 01:13

Text Resistance and Repression At Colnbrook Immigration Prison
09-04-2006 17:17 | 1 addition

Text Drummin' up da fences at Harmondsworth
09-04-2006 12:41

Image No Borders Demonstration Harmondsworth Pictures
08-04-2006 19:26

Image Photos of No Borders "bubble"
08-04-2006 19:04 | 1 addition

Text No Borders Radio Reports 8th April
08-04-2006 15:50

Text noborders demo4
08-04-2006 12:21

Image pic from no borders demo
08-04-2006 12:14

Text noborders demo 3
08-04-2006 12:06

Text noborders demo2
08-04-2006 11:54

Text coverage of April 8th No Borders Action
07-04-2006 18:06


London April 2006 No Borders Days of Action Newswire Archive >>

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