A hunger strike is classed as an individual or group refusing to eat or drink for at least 48-hours as a form of protest. Hunger strikes are one of the few ways vulnerable detainees can take control of their situation, and they signal a desperate need. The data includes several immigration and removal centres in the UK, including Harmondsworth and Yarl’s Wood, which had the most instances.

Trafficked Women Held in Detention Centres

Human rights campaigners say the detention process is traumatising for detainees, who have not committed a crime and are waiting for claims to be processed. Many asylum-seekers are vulnerable. In Yarl’s Wood, most detainees are women, many of whom have been trafficked. Women’s rights campaigners demand that women who have experienced trauma not be detained. Instead, they say they should wait for their asylum claim to be processed in the community.

Petition to Change Asylum Rules

This would not only be more ethical but also makes economic sense. Accommodating an asylum-seeker in the community is a lot cheaper than detention, which costs £87.50 per day. A petition to introduce a 28-day limit on detention was supported by various political and social organisations in the UK. Liberty, a human rights charity, put forward the online petition which eventually gained more than 70,000 signatures. Despite this support, the bill was rejected by MPs earlier this month.