No Borders activists block both exits of Europe’s largest immigration prison using heavy concrete blocks and a scaffolding tripod. Dozens of migrants held at the prison are due to be deported to Ghana on a specially chartered flight at midnigh.
Anti-deportation campaigners are blockading both exits of Harmondsworth
and Colnbrook detention centres, near Heathrow airport, in a bid to stop
the forcible deportation of dozens of Ghanaian migrants held at
Harmondsworth. A specially chartered flight carrying up to 50 deportees
is scheduled to leave to Gahana from an undisclosed airport at ten
minutes past midnight tonight.
Eleven activists from the No
Borders network [1] have locked their arms together inside heavy-weight
concrete blocks, preventing the coaches carrying the deportees from
leaving the detention centre. Another protester is suspending herself
from a 10ft tripod made of scaffolding poles. The blockaders, joined by
at least twenty protesters holding banners and chanting anti-deportation
slogans, have vowed to remain in place until the flight is cancelled.
This
is the second time there has been a mass deportation flight to Ghana
from the UK. The first was in November last year. Charter flights are
being used increasingly by European governments to deport more and more
unwanted migrants to a growing list of countries, with an average of one
flight a week from the UK alone. [2]
The action coincides with a
week-long 'convergence' of No Borders activists from across Europe at
Goldsmiths college, south London. The event's callout had called upon
supporters to “take action against various aspects of the border regime
in London and the surrounding areas.” [3]
One of the blockaders,
Dave Leighton, 34, said: “This flight has to be stopped. Everyone, not
just a privileged few, should enjoy the freedom to move and stay
wherever they want or need, regardless of their nationality or bank
balance. Forcible deportations reinforce a screwed-up system whereby the
rich and powerful use borders as a convenient tool to divide and
distract ordinary people from the real causes of inequality.”
Another
protester, Yvonne Mason, 26, added: “My friend will be on that flight.
He suffers from chronic injuries following his violent arrest during an
immigration raid last year. He has been locked up at Harmondsworth for
almost a year without access to proper medical treatment. He should be
provided with care and support, not be deported against his will.”
Notes for editors:
[1] No Borders UK is a network of groups and
individuals who stand against all forms or repression and control and
struggle for the freedom of movement for all. For further informations,
see www.noborders.org.uk.
[2] As the government seeks to
increase the number and frequency of forcible deportations, the use of
specially chartered flights to more and more countries has increased
significantly over the last few years. In the financial year 2009-10,
there were 67 such flights, deporting a total of 2,144 people, at a cost
of £10.3 million.
Every deportation is a violation of people's
right to freedom of movement but mass deportation flights are a
particularly sordid way to do that. On top of the trauma and hardship
caused by forcible deportation, these charter flights further undermine
the legal rights of deportees, as the emphasis is on filling the flight
and getting rid of them as soon as possible, outside the public gaze,
rather than ensuring the appropriate legal avenues have been exhausted.
The UK Border Agency's Enforcement Instructions and Guidance states that
"charter flights may be subject to different arrangements where it is
considered appropriate because of the complexities, practicalities and
costs of arranging an operation". Charter flight deportees are told that
"removal will not necessarily be deferred in the event that a Judicial
Review is lodged".
[3] The No Borders Convergence 2012 (13th –
18th February) is a week-long event featuring workshops, meetings and
actions against the border regime. The callout and programme can be
found here.