Blunkett's Dungavel visit
condemned - "he should be ashamed of himself"
"Detention is being used for the wrong reason to give the
impression of a get-tough stance but the home office is getting
tough with the wrong people," Robina Qureshi
"As much as I welcome a visit by David Blunkett to Dungavel,
I can't believe for one minute he has any understanding of what
really goes on there. "He needs to come with me on my visits
and help mop up the tears from the terrified people locked up
there who don't have any legal representation. "He needs
to speak to the hungry, distressed children there who are refused
food out of hours and have to watch their mother's be taken to
hospital in handcuffs." *Rosie Kane Scottish Socialist MSP
"I think it's an absolute disgrace, he has no compassion
or humanity. "To say there's no problem with locking up men,
women and children behind barbed wire who have committed no crime
in what is supposedly a democratic country is an outrage. "He
is guilty of human rights abuses and the fact that he had to slip
in to Dungavel on the quiet because he knows there would be mass
outcry and demonstrations if he made a public visit is a damning
indictment of this Labour Government's immigration policies."
**Aamer Anwar human rights lawyer
The response from Positive Action in Housing
(PAIH) to the visit by David Blunkett to Dungavel Removal/Detention
Centre on Friday 2nd July 2004:
Robina Qureshi, Director of Positive Action
in Housing, said:
"It might have been open day with tea and
sandwiches for David Blunkett and his civil servants at Dungavel
Detention Centre, but it was complete lockdown for asylum seekers.
Mr Blunkett spent a couple of hours inside Dungavel
Removal Centre and then got 'released', but he seems to forget that
that his time spent at Dungavel equates to the time in the fresh
air allowed each day to the innocent families and individuals locked
up there. For the rest of the day they are subjected to a category
c prison regime and they are incarcerated without time limit, charge
or trial.
Last Tuesday a female Asylum seeker detained at Dungavel,
needing hospital treatment was transferred to Hairmyres Hospital
in East Kilbride, handcuffed to a security guard. During her stay
at the hospital, according to a hospital worker, the asylum seeker
was chained 24 hours a day. This was in complete breach of Article
3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Court
of Human Rights, ruled in November 2003 that the chaining/handcuffing
of patients in hospitals was unacceptable.
Mr Blunkett should reveal the truth of Dungavel ; it's a prison
which locks up whole families behind steel fences and barbed wire."
"Mr Blunkett should be ashamed of himself
to describe Dungavel as 'entirely satisfactory". He should
try telling that to the families that are locked up here. He should
say to their faces that he praises the staff for doing a "good
job under difficult circumstances.
If its difficult for staff who go home to their
partners and children, how hard do you think it is for people locked
up inside Dungavel with their entire families, for no crime whatsoever?
He is trying desperately to make Dungavel look
like a benign centre that detains people ready for removal. It's
not a centre, it's a prison which strips innocent human beings of
their basic human rights, and it's a place where people are often
locked up for months and even years fighting for their right to
asylum. A few manage to make contact with the local community who
try and help them embrace their right to a bail hearing."
"Mr Blunkett claims that children are only
held for an average of 11 days inside Dungavel. That's eleven days
too long. Only last month, we assisted in the release of two families
and one woman: the Narantsogt
family from Liverpool who were locked up for three weeks, and
Zenab Traore, a Guinean from Leeds, who was locked up with Mariam,
her 16 month old baby, for a month. Zenab
and Mariam were deported to Guinea last Tuesday, but were
returned by Guinea, who refused to accept them in.
Paih assisted in the release of an Iraqi gentleman
who was locked up for two years in Dungavel and other detention
centres."
Families are ripped out of their communities
at random, dragged out of their beds at dawn. Parents and children
are separated, handcuffed and driven in vans up and down the country
at the whim of a Home Office, which simply does not care about the
impact on individuals and families.
Why was the Narantosgt family put through this
humiliation? Now they are back in their community in Liverpool,
where they belong. But why in the first place were they put through
the terrifying experience of being woken at dawn and driven to a
prison?
Why is Mr Blunkett insisting on putting even
one child through this experience?
"Contrary to the home office's claims, many
of the refugees we met in detention are not failed asylum seekers;
they have never broken any immigration rules, nor have they tried
to escape.
In fact, many were detained as soon as they stepped off the plane,
or were picked up after living legally for years in the community,
or reporting regularly to the police. Others have been picked up
and put into detention when their legal claim to asylum has not
even been exhausted.
Detention is being used for the wrong reason ; to give
the impression of a get-tough stance but the home office is getting
tough with the wrong people, with vulnerable refugees who have every
reason to make a claim for sanctuary in the UK. "
Notes to editors
1. Positive Action in Housing is a Scottish wide
anti-racist organisation working with communities and others to
enable everyone to have an equal chance to live in good quality,
affordable and safe homes, free from discrimination and the fear
of racial harassment and violence. Since 1995, we have taken a centre
stage role in challenging racism and supporting the human right
of everyone to live in a safe home and neighbourhood. Then, we were
fighting the legacy of years of discrimination in housing against
immigrant communities. We still are. Today that fight has shifted
to challenging the forced dispersal, segregation, imprisonment and
destitution of refugee communities.
2. Press enquiries: R Qureshi 07773321727
3. Log onto <http://www.paih.org/>www.paih.org
to find out about our work, get involved or make a donation.
DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in this email are not necessarily
those of Positive Action in Housing Ltd.Source for this message:
"Positive Action in Housing" <home@paih.org>
David Blunkett, visited Dungavel Removal Centre on Friday 2nd July
2004. After the visit he said: ***"I made a commitment that
I would visit Dungavel Removal Centre and see it for myself. "I
have done that today and I am satisfied that the conditions there
are entirely satisfactory. "I would also like to praise the
dedicated and caring staff who do a good job under difficult circumstances."
He also said: Anne Owers in her inspection had found Dungavel to
be "a safe, caring and respectful environment for detainees".
What Mr Blunkett didn't say was that in the above quotation Anne
Owers was generalizing about Dungavel. He was indeed being economical
with Anne Owers' reporting.ß
In her report on Dungavel, Anne Owers was very specific on the detention
of children. ****"We are concerned about the welfare and development
of children within a locked-in custodial setting," "It
remains our view that however conscientiously and humanely children
in detention are dealt with, it is not possible to meet the full
range of their developmental needs." "The detention of
children should be an exceptional measure and should not exceed
a very short period - no more than a matter of days." "The
welfare and development of children is likely to be compromised
by detention, however humane the provisions, and that will increase
the longer detention is maintained."
* Quoted on BBC News Online Saturday 3rd July 2004
** Quoted on BBC News Online Saturday 3rd July 2004
*** Quoted on BBC News Online Saturday 3rd July 2004
**** Quoted in NCADC bulletin 'End the detention of children' Friday
15th August 2003
Source for this Page: "Positive Action in Housing" home@paih.org |
