Following on from a Council Mandate on opposition to immigration detention centres and expression of solidarity with Yarl’s Wood, Oxford SU has produced the following statement.
Oxford SU stands in solidarity with those on hunger strike in Yarl’s Wood, and supports the demands in their entirety. We continue our call for the shutdown of immigration detention centres across the country, including Yarl’s Wood and Campsfield, and an end to the inhumane practice of immigration detention.
On 21 February, more than 120 people detained in Yarl’s Wood engaged in a three-day hunger strike protesting the lack of a time limit for how long people can be detained and the inhumane conditions of the centre itself. On 26 February, they escalated to an all-out strike, releasing a statement saying “we will cease to participate in detention, we will not eat, use their facilities or work for them.” The detainees are thus staging an all out strike to protest the Home Office’s continued immoral practices.
SOAS Detainee Support have compiled a list of ways to support the strikers, including signing a petition to Amber Rudd (Home Secretary) to call on her to grant the demands of the strikers. Oxford SU representatives will sign this petition, to support the call.
A full list of demands can be found here: https://detainedvoices.com/2018/02/25/the-strikers-demands/
Information:
Oxford SU Council minutes of HT7 will be available shortly