On Saturday thirteenth Could 2017 I put my Brompton folding bike on the prepare and made my approach to Bedford Station by way of St Pancras. I used to be on my method the the eleventh protest outdoors the immigration detention centre at Yarl’s Wooden within the marketing campaign led by Motion for Justice to close down this and different immigration prisons.
This was the primary time I’d taken a motorcycle to get to Yarl’s Wooden, though I’d been to a lot of the earlier protests that they had organised there. Earlier than I’d ridden from the station on a coach organised by the occasion organisers which hadn’t all the time been splendid, which means I generally arrived late – particularly as soon as when the driving force obtained misplaced – and needed to go away when the coach was leaving, generally earlier than the tip of the protest and generally once I would have preferred to go away earlier. On the bike I used to be free to reach once I wished and go away once I preferred.
Yarl’s Wooden is sited in an space distant for the southern components of England, on the positioning of a former wartime airfield, in all probability chosen as someplace folks may very well be locked away out of sight and out of thoughts, on the hills round 5 miles north of Bedford. Motorists would take the A6 to Milton Ernest, the closest village, after which a mile or extra uphill to the assembly level outdoors the Twinwoods Enterprise Park. However I took a barely extra wise cycle route, primarily alongside aspect roads or cycle paths, with only a brief part beside the A6 into the village.
A lot of the route was uphill, climbing slowly in the direction of the hills, then losing the vitality I’d expended in climbing with brief downhill sections. However the remaining part from Milton Ernest was uphill all the best way, lengthy and steep, although I didn’t want to fret about visitors on it because the police had helpfully closed the highway.
My Brompton has a 3-speed hub gear and isn’t actually good on hills, with the bottom of the three nonetheless being slightly excessive when issues get steep, however I managed to wrestle up with out having to get off and stroll, although I used to be drained and severely panting by the point I reached the highest.
There I locked the bike to a fence and joined the thousand or so protesters who had travelled from across the nation in an extended line of coaches parked alongside the highway. There have been speeches and chanting for a while as we waited for others to reach.
The gates of the enterprise centre have been locked and protesters are prevented from taking the shortest path to the jail (there may be additionally a extra direct personal highway from the south closed to the general public.) However a public footpath runs beside the 20ft fence round it. To achieve it the campaigners first march just a few hundred yards alongside the highway, then flip down one footpath to succeed in a bridleway earlier than going just a few hundred yards alongside this to the trail resulting in the jail.
Its not an awesome distance, a little bit over three-quarters of a mile, however a lot of the best way is on paths usually muddy and stuffed with puddles, and the Brompton isn’t completely satisfied off-road. I ended up pushing it a lot of the time, often carrying it together with my digicam bag, although a few of the protesters did give me a hand so I might take some pictures.
Exterior the jail the protesters marched right into a subject on the north aspect the place a small hill rises to present a restricted view over the stable decrease half of the 20 foot metallic jail fence. Their shouts and noise have been greeted by these contained in the centre who had managed to get to the home windows on that aspect.
The jail home windows have very restricted opening, however sufficient for a few of the ladies inside to get their arms by way of and wave, usually holding objects of clothes, or sheets of A4 paper with messages calling for freedom and for justice. Our view of them from the hill was solely by way of the wire mesh of the higher 10 ft of the 20 foot fence which made taking photos tough.
From most locations we might solely see the 2 higher flooring of the constructing, however on the very highest level the higher a part of some floor ground home windows was additionally seen. These rooms are used to deal with households being detained and though Yarl’s Wooden was primarily used to detain ladies there have been just a few males right here as nicely.
A lot of the protesters stood up on the hill holding banners and placards however others have been on the backside, some banging or kicking the metallic fence which resonates to make a terrific racket. Others wrote slogans on the fence, although these have been solely seen to us outdoors. Folks climbed up on ladders or different folks’s shoulders or used lengthy poles to carry banners, posters and placards in entrance of the higher mesh the place the detainees might see them.
Motion for Justice had introduced a public tackle system and there have been speeches, primarily from former detainees, together with a number of ladies who had been held at Yarl’s Wooden. One who spoke was Mabel Gawanas who had been just lately launched a after just a few days wanting 3 years inside. A number of detainees have been additionally capable of communicate from inside over cell phones, amplified by the PA system.
The protests at Yarl’s Wooden have been essential in gaining publicity for the horrible method through which the UK treats asylum seekers, notably ladies who’re locked up on this ‘racist, sexist hell-hole’ which has been uncovered by numerous reviews. They’ve an unlimited morale-boosting have an effect on on the prisoners who really feel remoted and forgotten inside.
However the authorities’s response has been to re-purpose Yarl’s Wooden as a short-term holding facility for males arriving within the UK by boat in December 2021 and to arrange a brand new immigration detention centre for girls in an much more distant location in County Durham, the place it’s a lot tougher for the ladies to organise and argue their instances. Nearly actually part of this determination was to attempt to keep away from additional protests similar to this one.
Extra just lately the Dwelling Workplace has began indefinitely detaining ladies at Yarl’s Wooden once more, though the numbers are a lot smaller. No official announcement was product of this reversion.
Rather more at Shut down Yarl’s Wooden Jail on My London Diary.
Tags: 20ft fence, asylum seekers, banners, Bedford, Brompton, faces of girls, freedom, immigration detention, immigration prisons, indefinite detention, indefinite imprisonment, justice, Mabel Gawanas, MfJ, Motion for Justice, peter Marshall, placards, posters, jail, jail home windows, protest, racism, racist, refugees, sexist hell-hole, Shut Down Yarls Wooden, ladies at home windows, Yarl’s Wooden, Yarls Wooden
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