This weekend, the Observer newspaper reported that three more women have come forward to corroborate the allegations of sexual abuse of detainees by officers at Yarl’s Wood detention centre:

The women – one who is currently inside the centre and another who left in July – claim to have witnessed guards touching women inappropriately, and allege that guards gave detainees the impression they could help with immigration cases in return for sexual contact, and breached company policy by entering women’s rooms at night.

NCADC is opposed to all immigration detention. It is a form of violence against migrants, and this recent Yarl’s Wood story is not a shocking anomaly but proof of the systematic abuse that detention allows and encourages. We support Movement for Justice’s call for a public inquiry into persistent claims of abuse at Yarl’s Wood.

We stand in solidarity with the women who have come forward and bravely born witness to the abuse they have endured, and to all who have been and are currently detained. It was fantastic to stand together - not just metaphorically - with survivors of immigration detention at the demonstration on 18 September, outside the Home Office.

Take a look at the great photos of the demo from Demotix here.