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Re: Responsible Behaviour
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Happy Reader
Jolly Ole England
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Dec 8 03 9:53 AM
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www.mirror.co.uk/news/all..._page.html
GUARDS: REFUGEES ARE 'SCUM OF THE SCUM' Dec 8 2003
Jamaicans are drug-dealing pieces of s**t, Algerians are the slimiest bastards in the world, all terrorists, and the Chinese are evil little bastards
By Nick Sommerlad
THEY are fearful women asylum seekers whose search for a safe haven has failed - but to their guards they are the "scum of the scum".
A senior security officer did not hide his racist contempt for those in his "care" at notorious Yarl's Wood detention centre. He told me: "The Indians and Pakis are all right.
"But Jamaicans are drug-dealing pieces of s**t. Algerians are the slimiest bastards in the world - all of them. They're all terrorists, the ones we get anyway. And the Chinese are evil little bastards."
Others called the 60 detainees "bitches" and "scrubbers".
Yarl's Wood is the last chance saloon for failed asylum seekers before most are returned to the homeland they were desperate to flee.
Some may be genuine victims of a miscarriage of justice, suicidal at the thought of what awaits them after they are deported.
Others may well be liars caught out before they vanish into the community. But all deserve to be treated with dignity.
Sadly some staff seem to have taken Home Secretary David Blunkett at his word when he pledged to toughen the regime following last year's riot by inmates.
Members of racist groups are barred from working at the centre. But a BNP candidate was given a job there for a few months in 2001 and opinions I heard would not have been out of place at a far right rally.
One officer said bluntly: "They're bitches in here. They're here for a reason." Another, referring to Nigerian women, said: "They're very religious, calling you 'sir'. That's all right, it's showing some respect.
"They dress up on Sunday in their hats and everything to go to church. Then they go back to being the useless scrubbers they are."
On another occasion I was told: "We have to watch out for incest. It's part of their culture. They'll stick it up anything."
Yarl's Wood is run by the heavily criticised Group 4 security firm which boasts it has been "recognised by the Home Office for leadership in implementation of the Human Rights Act".
Advertising for new recruits, the company says: "The ability to communicate well and to establish positive relationships with people from many nationalities, faiths and cultures is an essential part of this interesting and varied job.
"Although there can be a language barrier, bridges can be built with a simple smile."
There was not much sign of bridge building in my seven weeks of undercover training as a detention custody officer.
In sessions on cultural diversity, bullying, race relations and child protection one officer said: "Your two favourite letters of the alphabet when you're working will be RD - removals directions. That means the bastard is off.
YOUR least favourite will be TA - temporary admission. That means let the f*****s out. It happens all the time and always to the pieces of s**t."
During another session on human rights, trainees were subjected to a right wing rant.
They were told: "Now they (asylum seekers) are rowing over in dinghies. Sink them, that's what the Navy should be doing.
"I'm afraid we're softly, softly. We used to be a hard nation. People used to be afraid of us.
"There's a study that in 25 years whites will be in the minority. English won't be the first language.
"We're losing our culture because we're soft, because we signed up to the Human Rights Act."
It was astonishing that staff felt free to use such poisonous language. It was even more disturbing that no one challenged them.
Far from sympathising with the detainees' plight, one recruit declared: "The ones who come here and don't stop crying really piss me off. I'm like 'Shut up!' They only do it to get attention."
There was not a murmur of dissent from other trainees. One agreed, and added: "Crocodile tears." Horrified by such talk, a black colleague confided: "There are racists here. I can't see why management don't do something about it."
Mr Blunkett insists Yarl's Wood is not a prison. However it is run by a former prison governor. Staff are trained as if they were jail officers and prison service "control and restraint" techniques are taught.
The regime is strict. Trainees were told: "No mollycoddling. At 7am it's 'Bang, bang, get up!' You want them up and tiring themselves out. It's good for the centre.
"Don't let them sleep all day. Talk to them, annoy them, knacker them out. It's the best way." Many of the people here are desperate and confused, yearning for some sign of human kindness.
But I was trained to avoid sympathising with inmates and to disbelieve their horrifying stories of hardship and torture.
I was warned: "Don't befriend them. Other officers will turn on you. You're not here for that.
"If you want to, join the visiting committee. Get out of the job and join the 'tree-huggers'."
An immigration officer who works for the Home Office told new recruits: "If they're in here it's almost certain that their case has been looked at and refused. A story that you're told by one of the detainees may seem very convincing. Don't get involved.
"The initial things you hear sound terrible. But they don't stand up.
"Unfortunately many people do break the rules when they come here. If they've been prepared to break the law, then telling a lie is nothing."
At first sight, the centre looks like a travel lodge motel. There are facilities, including a library, gym, shop and lessons in English, maths and computing skills.
The razor wire and CCTV cameras spell a different message. During my training I heard countless stories of violent and intimidating inmates. But I found the detainees - mostly women in their 20s - were subdued and timid. All were depressed, some were suicidal.
While I was at at the centre a Jamaican women tried to hang herself. An African girl stayed in her room banging her head against the wall, crying: "Just let me die."
The Home Office fines Group 4 10,000 for each suicide.
As a result, detainees thought to be at risk are liable to be strip-searched and placed in "removal from association" areas where they are kept from other inmates.
In "suicide awareness" training, I was told: "They're cunning. Some keep razor blades in their mouths.
"We had one who swallowed a blade broken off a disposable razor, passed it out and used it.
"If they ask for a pen to write a letter, watch them. Some break the pen and use that to cut themselves. Those people that want to do it will do anything."
Suicidal detainees are checked at regular intervals. Recruits are told to look round their door, give them a phone call or even - as a cruel joke - tell them they have a letter.
A staff member said: "They'll soon come skipping down the corridor. Once you see they're still alive you can just say 'Nah' - it all saves time."
Not all staff are so callous. Some sympathise with the inmates and are unhappy with the ways detainees are branded disruptive.
One told me: "It's not just for shouting or being violent. If at the end of a six-hour asylum meeting they say 'You f*****g bastards,' then that's considered to be disruptive. I don't think that's right."
The Government has dropped its target of sending 30,000 failed applicants home every year.
BUT more and more cases are being turned down and more hopefuls than ever are being returned to the last place they want to be - their homeland.
Tragically, there is evidence of people being wrongly detained.
I was told of one man brought in by accident. He had lived in Scotland for 25 years, was "very well-educated", had his own business and was married with children.
Despite having a British passport he was picked up at an airport coming back from a wedding and taken to Yarl's Wood.
He was released when the blunder was uncovered.
I was also told of a Polish man, married with children, who had been living in Britain for 15 years before he was plucked from his home and taken to the centre.
An officer told me: "His wife found out he was having an affair and reported him. So he was picked up and ended up in here.
"There are a few of them like that. Generally a friend or someone they know has reported them."
I also heard tales of disturbed inmates who should have been receiving mental care instead of being held in detention.
One Iranian man used an iron to burn himself. A colleague explained: "He had ironed his arms, chest, legs, feet and even his testicles."
According to another workmate, another detainee used to walk around for 12 hours at a time.
The workmate said: "He shouldn't have been in here, he had mental problems. They let him out in Bedford. He left his bags where he was dropped and just walked for four days before being arrested."
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