Thursday 17 November 2011

STOP DAWN RAIDS! STOP DETAINING CHILDREN!


STOP DAWN RAIDS! STOP DETAINING CHILDREN!
Come to the protest Monday 21 November, 10.00 am at Festival Court

        Following the dawn raid on two families early last week Unity is calling for a protest outside of the UKBA reporting centre and headquarters of the Immigration Enforcement Team on Monday 21 November. Unity hopes it will be a well-attended protest that will make it clear once and for all that the UKBA using dawn raids and the detention of families is just not acceptable. Monday 21 November is the next working day after the UN's Universal Children's Day on 20 November - a day set aside for promoting the welfare of the children of the world. (http://www.un.org/en/events/childrenday/).

SOLIDARITY.

        We want as many people as possible to come to Brand Street on Monday to make a noisy colourful protest against the resumption of dawn raids that the UKBA cannot ignore. More information about how Funke and Joseph were treated can be seen below this call-out. People involved with Unity are particularly angry that the dawn raids were carried out on families containing young children who were asleep when immigration officials forced their way into the homes. The children were woken up by immigration officials wearing uniforms and stab-proof vests only to see their mothers being handcuffed.
       This barbaric treatment of families who have not been convicted of any crime is something many people thought had disappeared following widespread community protest and opposition from all Scottish political parties in 2006. We want the protest on Monday to be a big day-long action, so tell as many people as possible. The protest will continue into the afternoon so even if you can't make it for 10am, come along when you can.
        Join the protest outside the UKBA office on Brand Street from 10am on Monday 21 November to show your opposition to dawn raids and child detention. We will be running a banner and prop making workshop and preparation meeting from 1pm on Sunday afternoon. If you'd like to come and help then please contact Unity to find out details of the venue.
And if you'd like to come from out of town - we can provide accommodation!

Just get in touch J
Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=272568582785246


Unity!
         The protest on Monday is being held outside the UKBA reporting centre at 200 Brand Street, Ibrox, Glasgow. It is very close to Cessnock underground station and less than 100 metres from the Unity Centre. There is a map and directions on how to find the centre on our website at http://unitycentreglasgow.org/?page_id=16
          Funke Olubiyi and her son Joseph were forcibly removed from the UK on Saturday evening despite a last minute attempt to get an injunction on medical grounds. Speaking from Nigeria, Funke described how nine immigration officials and guards and a doctor accompanied her and her son onto the plane. On the phone Funke thanked everyone who had tried to fight for her and told us that she was OK for now and staying with friends.
        Funke and Joseph were the first family from Scotland known to have been detained in the new family detention centre called 'Cedars' in the village of Pease Pottage close to Crawley in Sussex.
The family had been detained following a 'dawn raid' at their home when little Joseph aged only 5 and 2 months had been asleep in his bed. Funke had been preparing to have a bath and had been undressed when seven immigration officials forced their way into the family's small flat on Shaw Street in Govan. Joseph was not allowed to have any breakfast in his house and was only given some food after the family had been taken to the reporting centre at Brand Street.
         A day earlier the UKBA had detained another single mother and baby during a dawn raid but she had managed to convince the immigration officials to realise her after being held at Brand Street with her baby for over seven hours. These two raids mark the return of dawn raids to Glasgow following a period of several years when the UKBA had almost totally stopped raiding asylum seeker families. Despite holding Funke and Joseph for three days and three nights in their 'pre-departure accommodation' at Cedars which with its 2.5 metre tall perimeter fence is run by security firm G4S the UKBA still insist "We do not detain children for immigration." Unity calls on all campaigners and supporters to work to make sure that for once this becomes a reality.

Come to teh protest on Monday 21 November.

The UNITY Centre
30 Ibrox Street
Glasgow
G51 1AQ

No comments:

Post a Comment