A-Infos (en) Britain, Anarchist Federation, Resistance #112 - Page 6 - BENT BARS PROJECT LAUNCHED; SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON IMMIGRATION PRISONS

Bent Bars is a new letter-writing project for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, 
transsexual, gender-variant, intersex, and queer prisoners in Britain. The project aims to 
develop stronger connections and build solidarity between LGBT/queer/trans communities 
outside and inside prison walls Although many overtly homophobic and transphobic laws have 
been recently overturned in Britain, the criminal (in)justice system continues to target 
and criminalize queer, trans and gender non-conforming people. We don’t know exactly how 
many LGBTQ people are currently behind bars, but we do know queer, trans and gender 
non-conforming people, particularly those from poor backgrounds and communities of colour, 
are disproportionately funnelled into the prison system as a result of systemic 
discrimination, inequality and social exclusion. We also know that queer, trans and gender 
non-conforming people are subject to increased isolation, harassment, and violence when in 
prison.

Penpals needed!

The project is looking for non-impris-
oned and formerly imprisoned LGBT/
queer/trans people who are interested in
becoming penpals. In the first month since
they initiated the project, they received
more than 100 requests from LGBT pris-
oners for penpals, and the requests keep
coming. Bent Bars welcome anyone who
is interested, but are especially looking for
gay/bi men and transwomen to be penpals.
Becoming a penpal can give a person in
prison vital emotional support, help pris-
oners be less vulnerable to violence and
assist in building networks and resources
for release. Time commitment is whatever
you want it to be. Writing one letter a
month, which can take as little as half an
hour, would be great.
The group is also looking for folks who
want to get involved in the Bent Bars
Collective, which coordinates the letter
writing program, collects resources for
queer/trans prisoners and does public edu-
cation work on queer/trans prison issues.
For more information, contact:
Bent Bars Project
P.O. Box 74 Brighton BN1 4ZQ *
*Please note we’re getting a new mailing address soon
Email: bent.bars.project@gmail.com
---------------------------------------

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON IMMIGRATION PRISONS

Last month, 100 people demonstrated outside Pennine House, a purpose-
built immigration prison at Manchester airport where migrants are locked
up even though they haven’t committed a criminal offence (see Resist-
ance 111). In the ‘Big Issue in the North’, the immigration minister Phil
Woolas has responded to the protest with a number of inaccuracies. Here
we set the record straight.

“Pennine House has been there for many
years – why they are protesting about it
now, I’m not quite sure.”
It’s not really that surprising, is it?
Since Phil Woolas got the job of im-
migration and borders minister, he has
been the most draconian and arrogant
member of Brown’s cabinet. Remember
him declaring war on migrant commu-
nities and their friends? Well, that’s us
fighting back.
“It reopened because the old facility was
not fit for purpose, and was refurbished.
I would have thought they would have
agreed with that.”
How dishonest can you be? Woolas
wants to detain and deport more and
more asylum seekers and thus plans to
expand the detention capacity by 60% -
to over 4,000 places. Pennine House was
not just refurbished but was doubled in
size, from 16 to 32 places.
Sure it was also refurbished after even
the HM Chief Inspector of Prisons criti-
cised it as a “poor” and “disrespectful”
environment. There is finally a court-
yard that received natural light, but
the trade-off was that detainees can no
longer receive visitors inside their living
quarters but must meet their visitors in
a special meeting room.
“I believe they think we should have no
border control. I don’t think Ican take that
as a serious position.”
This is certainly a radical proposition.
But it can’t just be reduced to a dis-
like of migration control. The border
system that Woolas is in charge of is a
mess – and it’s the most vulnerable who
suffer most. This system can’t just be
reformed; we need a complete over-
haul of it. For us this means an end to
all forms of authoritarian control – be
they ID cards, the DNA register, police
surveillance, or indeed the control of
people’s movement.
“The people who are detained are people
who have not co-operated with the judicial
system. It is a relatively small number of
people.”
An estimated 30,000 people are locked
up in an immigration detention centre
every year, including 2,000 children.
This is not a small number, especially
as it means that families, friends and
communities are torn apart. And let’s
remember that the majority of detain-
ees have not committed any crime, have
not had a trial or received a sentence.
Rather, they are arrested and detained
when their asylum claims are refused,
their visas run out, or they are other-
wise deemed to “not have the right” to
be in this country. This includes school
and university students, migrant work-
ers and families who have long been
settled in the UK and who are often
‘snatched’ in dawn raids from their
homes.
It is “not true” that vulnerable people are
detained at Pennine House. “Sometimes
they are dangerous people.”
Many asylum seekers and migrants
lacking the right legal documents face
a constant threat of being snatched by
police and immigration officials in dawn
raids or in swoops on their workplaces.
Many have escaped violent conflict
and war in their countries of origin
and lived through traumatic journeys
to the UK. Despite this, many display
an amazing strength of character and
sense of dignity. We are yet to meet a
single immigration detainee who has
been as dangerous to other people as the
immigration and security staff accused
of beating and torturing migrants in
the back of Border Agency vans and in
detention centres.
“They are people who have been judged
not to have a legitimate immigration claim
by the courts. That is not down to the
government.”
The legal requirements for immigration
claims as well as the decision to detain
people in immigration prisons and to
deport them are made by the govern-
ment. The courts judge according to the
law made by government policy.
“The facility is humane. It is subject to
independent monitoring.”
A new lick of paint doesn’t change any-
thing to the fact that locking up people
who haven’t committed a crime can never
be ‘humane’.
www.noborders.org.uk
_________________________________________
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