Detention centres attacked as figures reveal self-harm by asylum-seekers

The true cost of using detention centres to lock up failed asylum-seekers has been exposed by statistics showing the extent of self-harm among those held.

Figures show that in the last four months of 2007, 42 people needed medical attention for self-harm in Britain’s 10 centres.

This represents 2 per cent of the 2,095 people held at that time. As well as these cases, one in five people held were considered to be at risk of self-harm and being formally observed. Colnbrook detention centre, near Heathrow, was worst, with 18 cases of self-harm treated in four months, and 126 people under formal watch.

Meanwhile, at Yarl’s Wood in Bedfordshire, where this week mothers have been on hunger strike in protest over the detention of their children, 52 inmates were under formal watch, and eight people required medical attention because of self-harm.

The statistics, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, support the views of many immigration experts and MPs that prolonged detention of migrants is unethical.

A spokeswoman for the Refugee Council said: “These figures confirm our huge concerns about detaining vulnerable people for indefinite periods. Many of these people will have undergone extreme trauma and in some cases torture and detention in their home countries.

“We urge the Government to consider alternatives to detaining people, given the severe effect it has on their mental health.”

Emma Ginn, of the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns, said she hoped the statistics would act as a wake-up call to the UK Border Agency.

“Some self-harm attempts are just a cry for help, but some of these were serious suicide attempts. Why would any so-called bogus asylum-seekers make an attempt on their life? It’s an indication of the living hell that they’re going through.”

Ms Ginn believes that the only option is to close the centres. “An alternative must be found,” she said, “because they’re driving people to make attempts on their own lives.”

Nigerians call for boycott of BA after deportation

More than 1,000 Nigerians have backed a call to boycott British Airways unless it apologises to 136 passengers who were ordered off a flight to Lagos after they complained about the forced deportation of a man on board.

A British Airways captain made the extraordinary decision to clear the whole of economy class on an aircraft due to take off from Heathrow in response to concern from travellers that security men were manhandling a man who was pleading not to be removed from the UK.

The man, who was thought to be about 30, was being held down in his seat by four or five police officers as the other passengers filed on board, and was crying out in broken English that he was afraid he would die if he were sent back to Nigeria.

The officers took him off the plane, then returned and arrested Ayodeji Omotade, one of the passengers who had complained vociferously about his treatment. When others on board protested noisily about Mr Omotade’s detention, the captain ordered them all off the flight. The only person who eventually flew economy class on flight BA0075 was the unidentified deportee who did not want to go.

Mr Omotade – who pleaded tearfully with officers not to prevent him travelling to Nigeria, where he was due at his brother’s wedding – was held in custody for 10 hours, accused of causing an affray, and banned by British Airways from travelling with them again.

The police also confiscated all the money he was carrying, which came to £1,600 in notes, plus three £1 coins he had in his pocket, and abandoned him, penniless, in Heathrow airport. He was spotted there by one of his fellow passengers, who was waiting for the next flight to Lagos and loaned him the money to get home.

Mr Omotade, an IT contractor from Chatham, Kent, who is married with a five-year-old daughter, said: “£1,603 is not a lot of money to some people, but to me it’s a lot, and most of it wasn’t mine. I told them I had letters written in English to show them why I was carrying the money, but they said they had strong reason to believe it was the proceeds of crime.

“By the time I got to the magistrates’ court, the police had already applied for an extra 90 days to investigate. I still don’t know whether they are going to charge me, or not charge me. I didn’t even get my luggage back until a week later. They flew my luggage to Lagos. I need a public apology that I can get framed and hang in my living room.”

The incident, on 27 March, has created outrage among expatriate Nigerians in the UK, who have called on the Lagos government to intervene. A protest letter, signed by more than 1,000 Nigerians, has been sent to the country’s President, Umaru Yar’Adua, and senior members of the Nigerian parliament.

It calls for a front-page apology in a national Nigerian daily newspaper to all passengers on flight BA0075, a written apology and appropriate compensation to Mr Omotade, lifting of the life ban which Mr Omotade says has been imposed on him by British Airways, and the dropping of any criminal charges against him. They say the airline has until 30 April to respond.

“Failure on the part of the British Airways to comply to the above demands will result in us calling for worldwide boycott of British Airways by Nigerians,” the petition warned.

British Airways said: “Police were called to the BA75 service to Lagos on 27 March after a large number of passengers became disruptive. Many were removed. We take any threats against our crew or passengers very seriously and this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated.”

Ayodeji Omotade was arrested, stripped of his

cash, abandoned at Heathrow and barred by

BA for objecting to a forced deportation

Curry house staff protest at new UK work rules

Rachel Williams
The Guardian,
Monday April 21 2008

Thousands of curry restaurant workers gathered in London yesterday to demand that the government relaxes new immigration rules to avert a financial catastrophe caused by crippling staff shortages in the £3.5bn industry.

Members of the Bangladeshi community, who were joined by groups from Chinese, Indian, Pakistani and Turkish catering businesses at the protest in Trafalgar Square, also complained that a spate of “heavy-handed” raids looking for illegal workers at restaurants was damaging business.

Under the new points-based immigration system for workers outside the EU which came into force at the end of February, chefs need to speak English and have academic qualifications to work and live in the UK.

The Bangladesh Caterers Association says this has left its members unable to recruit trained Bangladeshi cooks and critically short of staff, threatening the future of the industry.

It estimates there are 27,500 vacancies in Bangladeshi-run restaurants.

As demonstrators carrying placards demanding “Save Currynomics” surrounded the base of Nelson’s Column, Muzammil Ali, who has run the Jewel in the Crown curry house in Swindon for 21 years, said he lacked skilled and unskilled workers. “This law will make staff shortages a very big problem for us,” he said.

“The children who have been born and brought up here don’t want to come into the catering industry where they have to work almost seven days a week and at weekends. They have education and qualifications and they can earn more money elsewhere.”

Demonstrators also called for an end to Border and Immigration Agency raids.

Shabul Muhth said his two restaurants in Kent had been raided at around 6.30pm on Friday and Saturday nights, the peak time for his business. Around 18 uniformed officers arrived on each occasion and closed the restaurant, he said.

Customers who were halfway through their meals had to leave without paying their bills. Staff members then had to wait for two to three hours while they searched the premises, checked documentation and fingerprinted some members, he said.

“They didn’t find anything but it spoilt business for those nights.” No action was taken against the restaurant, he added. Muhth said he would not mind if raids were conducted on quiet nights, such as Sundays and Mondays, and officers came in plain clothes and “spoke nicely” to staff. “Come in like a gentleman,” he said. “We’re not drug dealing, we’re selling curry.”