This is the press statement we have issued for our latest monthly demonstration outside the gates of Derwentside/Hassockfield IRC.
“We urge people to vote for Radical Kindness in the upcoming General Election.
Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre opened in December 2021 with the primary purpose of locking up women sanctuary seekers, a cruel and inhumane process otherwise known as detention.
Human rights campaigners believe that immigration detention is cruel and unnecessary wherever it is located, and that it has a catastrophic impact on people’s lives. The No To Hassockfield human rights group, along with Abolish Detention and Durham Peoples Assembly, has maintained a continuous presence at the site EVERY weekend for the last 3 years regardless of the weather and the increasing hostility shown by the Conservative government to people seeking sanctuary.
This month campaigners will be joined by MEDACT North East whose mission is to support health professionals from all disciplines to work together towards a world in which everyone can truly achieve and exercise their human right to health. Together they will urge the public to vote with kindness in the General Election. In an environment where the ‘Hostile Environment’ is being ramped up, and those seeking sanctuary in the UK are being de-humanised, the campaigners will ask local people to judge political parties by how they treat the most vulnerable members of society. That’s why refugee rights are so important. At the beginning of ‘Refugee Week’ they will urge people to think with empathy and love and to vote with kindness.
A Medact spokesperson said:
“As members of the healthcare community, we recognise that individuals who are detained can be living with complex health needs, pre-existing vulnerabilities and high rates of mental health conditions that can be caused by or worsened by detention. The WHO / Europe and the British Medical Association (BMA) describe the significant impact of immigration detention centres on the mental and physical health of people who are detained. The deprivation of liberty and reduced access to healthcare further worsens the health of people who are detained. We support the No to Hassockfield campaign to end the suffering of women who are detained.”
An Abolish Detention spokesperson said
“The actions of the current Conservative government, and numerous other governments before them in relation to migration and asylum have been shamefully callous. They have used migrant people as scapegoats to distract and blame for the impacts of government policies which have for years decimated public services and reduced quality of life for the majority of the population, whilst enabling private companies to profit from their immigration and asylum policies through paying them to run centres like Derwentside. As a global community we desperately need different kinds of government with new approaches, especially when disillusionment with politicians, anti-immigrant rhetoric, and economic hardships have caused people in many other parts of the world to vote for extreme right wing parties.
“In a purposefully created hostile environment, kindness and care are radical forms of resistance to the dehumanising effects of these Conservative policies. Prioritising care and safety for all, and recognising the significant contributions that migrant people make to our society, represent genuine alternatives to the politics we have seen over the last years, so we urge people to behave with and vote for radical kindness, for an end to immigration detention, and policies at home and abroad which support people to live well and in peace.”
Research shows that the wider public do not support the Rwanda plan. Our campaigners feel strongly that the hundreds of millions of pounds spent on the Rwanda policy and on indefinite Immigration detention, could be much better spent on compassionate, practical and cheaper alternatives. The evaluation report of Home Office funded projects, jointly sponsored with UNHCR, provided helpful and objective evidence regarding alternatives to detention [4]. The first project run by Action Foundation in Newcastle along with the second, run by the King’s Arms Project in Bedford, sought to provide holistic case management, outside of immigration detention, for each participant. Project findings concluded that these alternatives were compassionate, practical and cheaper than detaining people. In letters to constituents, the current Tory government refutes this evidence.”
Timeline of Derwentside· In early 2021, it emerged that the Home Office planned to open a new detention centre with capacity to detain 84 women at Hassockfield (renamed Derwentside IRC by the Home Office), in County Durham [1]. Local people and campaigners united to resist the plans, including one local resident who mounted a legal challenge against the Home Office and local council.· In December 2022, HM Inspectorate of Prisons released their first inspection report on Derwentside [2]. The report highlighted many extremely concerning findings, including a ‘use of force’ incident, and the ‘constant supervision’ of women by male staff – despite Home Office guidance prohibiting this practice [3].· In late 2023 the Government announced Derwentside IRC will be repurposed at some point in 2024, becoming a male only detention centre. Women will now be detained primarily at the small unit for women at Yarl’s Wood IRC.
Notes
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/[2] https://www.
[3] https://www.refugeewomen.co.
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