Going hungry for Christmas / UK detention
Chiara | 26.12.2005 15:29 | Anti-racism | Migration | Social Struggles
No new hungerstrikes I'm aware of in immigration removal centres, but a number of detainees has refused to eat on Christmas day because the food was 'just the usual rubbish'.
One woman detained in Yarl's Wood was punished and put in isolation because she raised her voice to protest against the lack of decent food. Others just went back to their rooms or did not go to the dining room at all. In other detention centres the same story, no Christmas dinner just the usual rubbish. Many refused to eat and preferred to go hungry for Christmas.
Every detainee I spoke to is unhappy about the food, which they say is overcooked, re-heated or a day old, many are complaining about losing weight, children and people with health problems are particularly affected. Nobody can get a special diet, not even people with diabetes. A 6 month pregnant woman was refused the 'privilege' to take a sandwich to her room in the evening as a doctor had suggested - she was losing weight instead of gaining it. In fact nobody is allowed to eat anything different, the food is only served at set times and nobody can eat outside those hours, which from supper ( 5.30 to 6.30pm) to breakfats the day after is a long time to wait, it is forbidden to bring food from the outside, the shop inside is expensive and there is hardly anything, nothing can be taken from the dining to the rooms, not even for people who are sick or disabled and therefore unable to get there. I heard of particularly disturbing case of a family detained shortly in Yarl's Wood: they had a little boy who was paraplegic yet the detention staff did not allow the mother to bring him food because 'it is against the rules'.
The worst case of starvation I know at the moment is a woman in Yarl's Wood who has severe psychiatric problems and has not being eating for the last three weeks. She is not on hungerstrike, though she has been in the past, she just can't eat because she thinks there is poison in the food or she sees blood in it, and she says 'the meat reminds me of the children we slaughtered'- she is a former child soldier. Yarl's Wood Health 'Care' and the psychiatric services at Bedford Hospital deny she suffers from mental health problems. She has been detainde for over 7 months.
Every detainee I spoke to is unhappy about the food, which they say is overcooked, re-heated or a day old, many are complaining about losing weight, children and people with health problems are particularly affected. Nobody can get a special diet, not even people with diabetes. A 6 month pregnant woman was refused the 'privilege' to take a sandwich to her room in the evening as a doctor had suggested - she was losing weight instead of gaining it. In fact nobody is allowed to eat anything different, the food is only served at set times and nobody can eat outside those hours, which from supper ( 5.30 to 6.30pm) to breakfats the day after is a long time to wait, it is forbidden to bring food from the outside, the shop inside is expensive and there is hardly anything, nothing can be taken from the dining to the rooms, not even for people who are sick or disabled and therefore unable to get there. I heard of particularly disturbing case of a family detained shortly in Yarl's Wood: they had a little boy who was paraplegic yet the detention staff did not allow the mother to bring him food because 'it is against the rules'.
The worst case of starvation I know at the moment is a woman in Yarl's Wood who has severe psychiatric problems and has not being eating for the last three weeks. She is not on hungerstrike, though she has been in the past, she just can't eat because she thinks there is poison in the food or she sees blood in it, and she says 'the meat reminds me of the children we slaughtered'- she is a former child soldier. Yarl's Wood Health 'Care' and the psychiatric services at Bedford Hospital deny she suffers from mental health problems. She has been detainde for over 7 months.
Chiara