Mayday 2009 in Nottingham – a celebration of resistance

International workers’ day event for 2009 will take place, Saturday May 2nd, Brewhouse Yard by Nottingham Castle. 12 noon till 4 pm, Gates open for setting up at 10 am. There will be a march around Nottingham City Centre starting in the yard plus Stalls, Speakers & Music. Bring Placards, Flags & Union Banners. As usual migrant and asylum seeker issues will be integral to Mayday because the working class has no country.

Tinsley House blockade against Iraq removal via charter flight, and hunger strike on inside

Early in the morning of March 17th, anti-deportation activists bravely put up a blockade of Tinsley House, an immigration detention near Gatwick airport, in order to try and prevent removal of Iraqi asylum seekers collected from here and also at detention centres at Dover and Campsfield (Cambs). Find full reports and pictures on Indymedia.
And not only action on the outside, since at the same time everyone inside Tinsley was on hunger strike, due to changes in the meal system since Brook House opened (breakfasts and evening meals are shipped from the new centre, portion sizes are smaller & evening meals have to be ordered 48hrs in advance).
Continue reading Tinsley House blockade against Iraq removal via charter flight, and hunger strike on inside

Manchester demo “Abolish Immigration Prisons” Sat 21st March

Thousands of asylum-seekers are currently being kept in prisons throughout the UK. They haven’t committed a crime, but they can be imprisoned indefinitely. On Saturday 21st March, Manchester No Borders are calling for a demonstration of all those who want to see an end to all immigration detention.

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.
Continue reading Manchester demo “Abolish Immigration Prisons” Sat 21st March

Borders = violence and death

State violence comes in many forms. As reported today on the front page of the Independent newspaper Adam Osman Mohammed was shot in Darfur after ‘voluntary’ return to Sudan from Britain where his appeal for asylum had been turned down. He was murdered by Sudanese security forces, at home, in front of his family, just a few days after his arrival at the airport. He had originally fled Darfur to UK via Chad, after attacks on him and his family by the Jangaweed militia, but that wasn’t good enough for the Home Office, who classed him as a ‘failed asylum seeker’.


The Home Office didn’t pull the trigger, but with the British government (like all nation states) determined to control borders and decide who can be in and who can be out, it is also responsible. The State in Britain also commits daily violence to asylum seekers by detention, forced removal, mental stress of uncertainty, lack of access to proper healthcare, and destitution. Death and suicide in (and also outside of) custody of detainees is not uncommon. Many asylum seekers choose so-called ‘voluntary return’ in exchange for a period of food and shelter beforehand and hope of a safer return without escort of immigration officials which is more likely to alert police and ‘security’ forces (e.g. under the Home Office’s Section 4 programme) but this decision is not taken lightly. In Darfur, and elsewhere, just returning after a time outside of the country can make you a target.


All this, and the terrible outcome of Adam Osman Mohammed’s return to Darfur, means that action to prevent and delay removal, ‘voluntary’ or otherwise, saves lives. In Nottingham, activists are working with asylum seekers with this very aim, whether they are from Sudan/Darfur, Congo, Zimbabwe, Burundi, Iraq or anywhere else they do not wish to return to. For more details, see: http://www.nottsrefugeeforum.org.uk/nrcg.htm

See also: Flying People to Torture & Death