‘We have decided to die with hunger’

Hundreds of campaigners against detention turned up to Harmondsworth and Colnbrook removal centres last Saturday, April 8, while inmates inside Colnbrook were forbidden access to the exercise yard and prevented by guards from looking out of windows to see or hear the demonstration.

In response, the national coalition of anti deportation campaigns (NCADC) said over 120 detainees refused food and water on Saturday.

But the Home Office refuted the claims. A spokesman for the Home Office said detainees had full access to normal facilities over the weekend.

The campaign group said the hunger strike has continued this week, and spread with detainees in all wings of Colnbrook participating. Some say they would rather die in Colnbrook than return to countries where they face further imprisonment, torture and possible death.

Patrick, one of the detainees on hunger strike, said: "The hunger strike in Colnbrook will go ahead until we are dead, because to deport us to our countries is like killing us. So we have decided to die with hunger."

Following the demonstration on Saturday, police said it was a peaceful event and there were no arrests.

In January, a detainee at Harmondsworth Detention Centre, 21-year-old Bereket Johannes committed suicide. Fellow detainees responded with a one-day hunger strike and a written statement about their conditions and treatment in detention.