Free Edson Cosmas and All Immigration Detainees!

Fight racism and anti-gay prejudice!
Mass Rally: Tuesday 24th May, 2pm at the Home Office Marsham St.
Edson “Eddy” Cosmas, currently being held at Harmondsworth Removal Centre, is a young black openly gay man originally from Tanzania. He is threatened with deportation back to Tanzania where he has previously been beaten, stoned, abused and tortured for his sexuality, and where homosexuality carries up to 30 years imprisonment.

Eddy is a leader for LGBT equality, and a member of Movement for Justice. He has lead campaigns against racism, anti-gay bigotry and for immigrant rights. Eddy is now in a fight for his life.

British law requires the Government to grant asylum to anyone who is gay and faces political persecution for being gay if returned to the country they were born in. However, on 9th May, when Eddy went to the Home Office in Croydon to submit his initial claim for asylum in Britain, he was stunned to be told that he was going to be taken into detention and put on “fast-track”.

By isolating Eddy from his community, denying him a fair hearing and putting him through a gruelling 2-day cross-examination in his interview, front line immigration officers have done everything in their power to undermine the new Court ruling. The Home Office have refused his claim stating that Tanzania is ‘safe’ for gay people, and have denied Eddy’s sexuality.

Amnesty for all immigrants now! End this divisive, racist system

Raids and deportations undermine and threaten everybody of African, Caribbean, Asian, Latin American, Arab and other non-white origin in this country, no matter how long our families have lived and worked here. It is essential that we fight against anti-immigrant prejudice, racism, the oppression of women and discrimination against the LGBT community if we want to live in a fully democratic country based on real equality and justice. The demand AMNESTY NOW can end the police state-style rule of the immigration authorities; close the detention centres and stop deportations.

G4S AGM/Justice for Jimmy Mubenga

The Justice for Jimmy Mubenga campaign invites people to demonstrate outside G4S’ AGM on Thursday 19th May, from 1pm-2.30pm, at Ironmonger Hall, Barbican, London. We will demand that G4S be held accountable for Jimmy Mubenga’s death on 12 October 2010 following ‘restraint’ by G4S officers while being forcibly removed from the UK. Members of Justice for Jimmy Mubenga will also be asking questions to senior management within the AGM.
More details on London NoBorders website.

Support the Iranian Hunger Strikers

Demonstration Friday 6 May
“Six Iranian refugees are now reaching their fifth week of a hunger strike to demand asylum in the UK and protest against mistreatment by the Home Office. This Friday we will march to the Home Office in Westminster to join our voices with their courage in demanding fair treatment for refugees.”
Details on NoBorders Website.

Detainees Respond To Italian Government Decision to Deport Tunisians

“Today, after the agreement between Italy and Tunisia, as promised by Berlusconi, they began to deportate Tunisian migrants back to their country directly from Lampedusa.
At noon, about 30 migrants, left on a plane, accompanied by 60 policemen. Tonight they should deport other 30 Tunisians.
There are about 1000 Tunisians at the moment in the detention Centre of Lampedusa. In the last days they are refusing to eat and they are protesting chantig slogans and asking to be free.
We were there in the morning to support them in their struggle with some banners. We managed to get quite close to the fences and shout at them and they were really happy to see us. We left after that the police asked our documents and threatened us to bring us to the police station, charging us with instigation…
In the afternoon the migrants burnt some materasses and in the mess caused by the heavy smog, some people managed to run away from the detention centre. Unfortunately they were not even aware they were in an Island and they could not go very far. So most of them, were easily caught and brought back to the detention centre. Berlosconi promised two flights a day to deport Tunisians directly from Lampedusa airport. This means that since the people arrive at a quicker pace, soon there will be again as many migrants here as there were last week.”

Video Of Demonstration.

Australian Police Use Tear Gas on Demonstrating Asylum Seekers

Article in The Australian.

Demo at Mid Sussex Planning Meeting, 24/03/1

Protest against Arora’s plans to convert a school into a “pre-departure accommodation centre”.
9am outside Mid Sussex Council planning meeting at the Council Chamber, Oaklands Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 1SS.
More Details

10th of March: Worldwide Solidarity Action Day with the 300 Hunger Strikers Immigrants-Workers in Greece

Latest Greece travel advises:
You might have heard that Greece is a beautiful country to visit with delicious food and people with great hospitality. Be careful: this is not the whole truth. The reality for hundreds of thousands of visitors is completely different. There is a general threat of human rights’ violations.
Call-out.

Protest at Yarl’s Wood in Solidarity with Women Immigration Detainees

Anti-detention activists held a solidarity demonstration at Yarl’s Wood detention centre on Saturday, 5th March. Protesters wanted to show solidarity with migrant women incarcerated in the immigration prison near Bedford, as women worldwide celebrated International Women’s Day. They also wanted to highlight the fact that ending child detention has been skillfully employed by the coalition government to avoid talking about the brutal and inhumane detention regime in general.
Full Indymedia Article.

Protesters at St Thomas’ Highlight Plight of Hospital Workers Arrested Last Month

A coalition of campaign groups staged a demonstration outside St Thomas’ Hospital on Friday evening in solidarity with workers arrested last month for identity offences. Full Article.

Celebrate International Women’s Day at Yarl’s Wood!

Come and celebrate International Women’s Day by showing solidarity with the migrant women imprisoned at Yarl’s Wood!

Saturday, 5th March 2011, 1pm

@ Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre
Twinwoods Road, Clapham, Bedfordshire, MK41 6HL

Directions:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/aboutus/organisation/immigrationremovalcentres/yarlswood
Please organise your own transport.

The coalition government has skilfully employed he “end” to child detention to avoid talking about the brutal and inhumane detention regime of detention in general. Yet, over the years, countless reports and accounts have documented the plight of women locked up at Yarl’s Wood: indefinite detention without charge or judicial oversight, overcrowded cells, mistreatment and abuse by private security guards, lack of privacy, restrictions on visits and phone calls, inadequate medical provision and the lack of facilities to address healthcare issues. And it’s getting worse.

In her 2009 inspection report on Yarl’s Wood, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers reported that “the focus on improving the environment and activities for children appeared to have led to a lack of attention to the needs of the majority population of women. Provision of activities for them was among the poorest seen in any removal centre. It had been inadequate at the last inspection, and had declined even further. The absence of activity added to the depression and anxiety of women, many of whom were spending lengthy periods at Yarl’s Wood. The average length of stay had increased by 50% since the last inspection, and one in ten women had been detained for more than six months.”

End the detention of migrant women!
Close Yarl’s Wood now!

Stop Deportation Network