30th October 2007

Dear Editor

I joined the Dignity not Detention protest at Rotherham and marched all the way to Lindholme Prison. I feel very honoured to have walked with such amazing people- asylum seekers
and refugees from Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Congo and other countries,many who have experienced torture in their own country for speaking out against ruthless dictators. They have sought asylum in the UK, but instead of treating them like heroes as we should, they have been treated like criminals, often being locked in detention centres like Lindholme for no good reason.

I am ashamed of our government who refuse asylum seekers the right to work, detain them without good reason and sometimes deport them to very dangerous situations where they fear for their life. The Green Party would give asylum seekers the right to work and end the unjust detentions. (see http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/mfss/Refugees.html)

The Declaration of Dignity Not Detention, which we read outside the razor wire fence of Lindholme, states

For those who are seeking asylum, those without documents, without lawyers, working for cash, sleeping on floors, living in limbo, the "overstayers", the trafficked and invisible, we demand:

The right to Stay. The right to Work.
For a right to be heard, understood and appropriately represented. For a shared cultural dignity that rejects humiliation, interrogation and degrading medical examination; for an end to dehumanisation and destitution:

Stop deportation. Release the Detainees.

Yours faithfully

Graham Wroe
Sheffield Green Party