IMPRISONMENT OF ASYLUM SEEKERS

Increasing numbers of immigration detainees - mainly asylum seekers - are under lock and key in the UK. According to latest Home Office statistics, around 1,800 are confined in prisons and detention centres including around 100 in Liverpool's Walton prison. They are held indefinitely under the 1971 Immigration Act. No court has authorised their detention; they are not told why they have been detained.

In Walton they are locked up 23 hours a day, denied education, allowed 1 shower per week, and association once a week - if staff are available. They must wait for permission to phone out and cannot receive calls. Many are suffering mental health problems or physical illness with little or no treatment.

Asylum seekers have fled persecution from oppressive regimes. Now they are deprived of basic human rights upheld in international conventions signed by Britain and the UK's own Human Rights Act. They have lost their right to freedom.

The detainees know their imprisonment is unjust and illegal. They demand immediate release by the Home Office. Detainees of different nationalities have held mass hunger strikes recently in at least five UK prisons, including Walton.

Merseyside Against Detention (MAD) was formed in March, after an approach by Campsfield (Oxford detention centre) campaigners. We have held 3 demonstrations, the last two in response to the hunger strike and supported by Liverpool Trades Council, the Fire Brigades Union, and UNISON North-West Region.

We oppose all "immigration detentions" in prisons, detention centres, or other institutions. Coordinating our efforts with other campaigns around the country, and the actions and demands of the detainees themselves, we hope to bring the maximum pressure to bear on the government to reverse this policy.

MAD would like to address local union branches over the next few months. We urge you to set aside time to discuss this important issue.

MERSEYSIDE AGAINST DETENTION c/o News From Nowhere, 96 Bold Street, Liverpool L1 4HY. freethedetainees@merseymail.com