12 noon rally in Albert Square outside Manchester Town Hall. Followed by Mass Bike Ride from Albert Square to Manchester Airport. Then 2pm rally outside Pennine House Detention Centre – Meet outside Terminal 2.

Abolish Pennine House

2,500 people are currently locked up in 13 British immigration prisons. Phil Woolas, the minister for immigration and borders, is seeking the expansion of the detention estate to 4,000 spaces. 30,000 people pass through one of those prisons every year, including 2,000 children. All are held for indefinite periods without trial or sentence.

Some of these people are imprisoned in Pennine House, the immigration prison located airside at Manchester Airport in Terminal 2. Pennine House can now hold up to 32 detainees, double its previous capacity. As a so-called residential short-term holding facility, it can hold people for up to seven days until they are released, deported or transferred to other ‘long-term’ detention centres.

Pie more government ministers

Meanwhile, Phil Woolas’ office in Oldham is only a few miles away. And while hundreds of innocent people are kept in prison with no knowledge of when they will be released, he continues to make xenophobic and nationalist statements at every opportunity.

Phil Woolas may be trying to undermine the BNP, by demonstrating that New Labour are equally capable of using racist and xenophobic rhetoric. However, in using many of the same arguments as the BNP does, Woolas is actually lending them credibility. The only way to fight the BNP is by completely rejecting the nationalism and xenophobia promoted by the
government.

Once it becomes acceptable to imprison someone arbitrarily and indefinitely, we are all at risk of suffering the same fate. We can already see this with Woolas’ determination to bring in ID cards for everyone and to monitor and retain all our cross-border movements in a secret database in Wythenshawe.

This is why activists from Manchester No Borders attempted to check Phil Woolas’ passport at a public debate last October, and when he refused this landed him a custard pie in the face.

The story so far…

Pennine House closed for expansion in spring last year. From when we could expose Carillion plc as the construction company to expand the prison, No Borders put pressure on this detention profiteer, forcing them to step up security at their Manchester office. Unfortunately, Woolas could re-open the prison last December.

Earlier this month, we took the issue directly to Manchester City Council leader Richard Leese, who is also the Chair of the Committee for the Shareholders of Manchester Airport. When 100 jumpers were dumped in front of him and information leaflets handed out to the audience, he was visibly embarrassed to continue his presentation of Manchester as a cosmopolitan and inclusive city.

And last Friday, in the most high-profile action against Pennine House so far, 20 activists were able to enter the office of Phil Woolas and to ‘detain’ him symbolically for 30 minutes until police officers could ‘free’ him.

On Saturday 21st March, we will reiterate our demand of the immediate closure of Pennine House and all immigration prisons, and that everyone be free to come and go as they please, regardless of the country of their birth.

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Join us for a rally at noon in Albert Square outside Manchester Town Hall with speakers from No Borders, the Anarchist Federation Manchester, No One Is Illegal, the Manchester Committee to Defend Asylum Seekers, and other
groups.

Mass Bike Ride from Albert Square to Manchester Airport (should take about 90minutes); or join others on the train (funds for train fares will be available for refugees and asylum seekers).

Rally at 2pm outside Pennine House Detention Centre – Meet outside Terminal 2.

More info:

• Pennine House in Corporate Watch: http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=3183
• The custard pie attack: http://nobordersmanchester.blogspot.com/2008/10/you-cant-do-this-hes-government.html
• Exposing detention profiteers: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/03/392863.html
• Jumpers for the council leader: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/manchester/2009/03/423407.html
• Immigration minster detained: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/manchester/2009/03/424174.html
• Keep up to date: http://www.manchesternoborders.org.uk/