Guardian: Dozens of migrants protest at detention center near Heathrow airport
Dozens of migrants are protesting at a detention center in Harmondsworth village near London’s Heathrow airport over poor conditions, guards are trying to quell the demonstrations, the Guardian newspaper reports.
“Guards at the immigration detention center… are trying to end a protest involving dozens of migrant detainees at the facility,” the newspaper noted.
According to the Guardian, the migrants are protesting against poor access to health services and a surge in temperature in the holding cells. The detainees have been breaking down doors and searching the kitchen for food and water, which they say “they have been denied”.
“There are no windows here – we can’t breathe. It’s like being in prison, in a cell measuring two meters by two meters for two people. It’s unbearable,” an Iraqi migrant told the newspaper.
According to the Guardian, there had earlier been a fight between guards and some detainees who were under the influence of homemade alcohol. The newspaper reported, citing sources at the UK Home Office, that one person was hospitalized after the incident.
“We are responding to the disturbance at Harmondsworth Immigration Detention Centre. … We will not comment further until the incident is resolved,” a Home Office spokesman told the newspaper.
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