Yarl’s Wood will be used as a removal center for immigrants whose requests for asylum have been denied. Authorities say they will be held for 24 hours before deportation. At the time of the center’s closure in February 2002, only 46 of the 385 immigrants that were being held there had been served with a removal notice, and many had been imprisoned for several months.

Around 50 people took part in the rally, which began with a five-mile march from Bedford town center. Many of the young people and others who joined said they were involved in campaigns against the internment of asylum seekers in other areas of England.

George Binetk, the chairman of the Committee to Defend Asylum Seekers and a member of the UNISON trade union, told the rally: “I’m opposed to immigration detention…. Yarl’s Wood is a flagship, because it’s privatized”—that is, run for profit by Group 4, a company under contract to the government.

Binetk said that plans to build “accommodation centers” in Bicester and Oxfordshire have sparked local protests. Some of the opposition, he said, has come from rightist forces who call for zero immigration.

Jessica Baily from Sheffield told Militant reporters that “I came here because I’m very committed to human rights for refugees.” She is a member of Student Action for Refugees, which builds links with immigrant communities.

The fire on Feb. 14, 2002, focused attention on Yarl’s Wood and the treatment of the people held there. The Fire Brigade Union (FBU) has reported that, despite recommendations from the local Fire Brigade, the center was not fitted with sprinklers. The union’s official bulletin states that the decision “was almost certainly influenced by costs.”

The union has scandalized the company and government about other aspects of the fire, a spokeswoman for the Campaign To Stop Arbitrary Detentions At Yarl’s Wood (SADY) told the Militant in a phone interview. The FBU revealed that fire engines attending the scene were held at the gates of the detention center for one hour before getting access to the fire, she said. Meanwhile, the detainees and Group 4 staff—who had not received fire safety training—were trapped inside.

Earlier that day staff members had pinned Eunice Edozieh, 51, to the ground after she had requested access to the chapel. Other detainees protested. The prison authorities say this so-called riot was responsible for the fire, and charged nine inmates with offenses relating to the incident. Five were accused of arson. After a trial that lasted four and a half months, two were convicted of violent disorder and given four-year prison terms. Most of the defense witnesses were deported.

Group 4 and the government bore responsibility for the events, said SADY organizer Emma Ginn to the September 28 rally. “They ordered the detainees to be locked in a burning building,” she said.

In an interview with Militant reporters, Ginn said, “I got involved when I heard a detention center was opening in this area. Not knowing much about the issues, I organized an education class in my home. We launched SADY in November 2001, and organized visits, helped people get access to rights, organized access to lawyers, and organized bail.”

Four days earlier Ginn had been part of a public meeting titled “Yarl’s Wood: the disgrace continues,” called by SADY. Among the speakers were Eunice Edozieh—the woman who had been brutalized by Group 4 staff on February 14—Lucky Jacobs, who was an acquitted defendant at the “arson” trial, and a representative of the FBU.

Another protest will be held at Oxfordshire’s Campsfield detention center on November 29.  
 
 
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