Today Diane Abbott asked an urgent question in parliament on behalf of women facing indefinite detention in Yarl’s Wood.
As previously reported on LabourList, the shadow home secretary – along with shadow attorney general Baroness Chakrabarti – recently visited Yarl’s Wood detention centre, where 120 women had just begun a hunger strike.
The detainees are calling for an end to indefinite detention and to victims of sexual violence being held. They describe the conditions as “inhumane”.
Abbott said: “In response to my repeated enquiries, the authorities at the detention centre – the Home Office, Serco and G4S – said categorically that there was no hunger strike.
“It now seems that we were misled.”
She referred to a signed letter on Home Office headed paper that stated detainees “currently refusing food and/or fluid” may have their case “accelerated” and “removal from the UK taking place sooner”.
Abbot pointed out that this would fall outside of due process, and said: “This sounds like punitive deportations for women who have dared to go on hunger strike.”
Today I asked an Urgent Question about women facing inhumane indefinite detention in #YarlsWood , who were subsequently threatened with accelerated deportation, because of their protest. pic.twitter.com/ag5Pk8LEtn
— Diane Abbott (@HackneyAbbott) March 6, 2018
More from LabourList
Defence spending, building targets, and election strategy – Labour NEC report
‘Welfare reforms threaten to alienate Labour’s own voting coalition’
Welfare reform: List of Labour MPs prepared to rebel against benefit changes