Hundreds march around detention centre perimeter to denounce rise in hate crime in wake of Brexit vote

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The largest protest staged against Britain’s most notorious detention centre has taken place, as up to 2,000 demonstrators gathered outside Yarl’s Wood to denounce “immigrant bashing” in the wake of the Brexit vote.

Campaigners from across the UK protested at the Bedfordshire immigration removal centre on Saturday, demanding that the facility, which mainly houses women, is closed immediately.

They said Yarl’s Wood had become an even more toxic symbol when viewed against the rising hate crime, xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiment that had gathered momentum in the wake of the EU referendum.

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On Saturday afternoon hundreds marched around the centre’s perimeter, many waving placards demanding an end to immigration detention. One said “you are not forgotten” in reference to the estimated 400 women held inside.

Antonia Bright of campaign group Movement for Justice, which helped organise the demonstration, said: “In total there looks to be 2,000 here. We had 24 coaches fully booked from across the country and many came by train – a great turnout.”

Yarl’s Wood has been embroiled in a series of scandals including allegations of sexual abuse, racism and mistreatment. Last year an unannounced inspection by the HM inspector of prisons said Yarl’s Wood “is rightly a place of national concern”.

The Shaw report, published in January this year and commissioned by the then home secretary, Theresa May, made dozens of recommendations including the call for ministers to reduce “boldly and without delay” the 30,000 people detained each year.

The report by Stephen Shaw, the former prisons and probation ombudsman, called for a complete ban on the detention of pregnant women in immigration centres such as Yarl’s Wood. He said there should also be a “presumption against detention” of victims of rape and sexual violence, people with learning difficulties, and those with post-traumatic stress disorder.

A statement released by Movement for Justice before Saturday’s demonstration said: “Since then we have witnessed the Brexit phenomenon that saw leave campaigners place immigration at the centre of their campaign, spewing anti-immigrant and xenophobic rhetoric. The result has been massively increased racist and xenophobic physical assaults and verbal attacks.”

Saturday’s demonstration, led by former detainees and asylum seekers, was the tenth at Yarl’s Wood organised by Movement for Justice and supported by many other organisations.