The “Week of action against the Hostile Environment!” called
by the Solidarity Knows No Border Network which, in Manchester comprises Right
to Remain’s These Walls Must Fall Campaign, Greater Manchester Immigration Aid
Unit (GMIAU), Women Seeking Asylum Together (WAST), Manchester No Borders and Safety4Sisters
is running from 13th – 19th June 2022 in most cities and
towns right across the UK.
It is taking place in a week where the first batch of
asylum seekers in the UK were supposed to be flown to remote Rwanda as part
of an opaque deal cut between the UK government and that of Rwanda whereby the UK government
would off-shore some of its asylum seekers to the African country for processing.
If the affected asylum seekers’ applications are successful, they would not be
returned to the UK but would be settled in Rwanda.
In Manchester, the Week of action against the Hostile
Environment event is taking place on Saturday 18th June 2022 from
1pm to 4pm at Methodist Central Hall, Oldham Street, Manchester M1 1JQ.
Speakers will be drawn from These Walls Must Fall
Campaign, Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU), Women Seeking Asylum
Together (WAST), Manchester No Borders and Safety4Sisters.
One of the key speakers at the Manchester event is local
human rights campaigner, Mavis Harrison.
Mavis is a campaigner with These Walls Must Fall in
Manchester, and a human rights activist with Restoration Of Human Rights (ROHR)
Zimbabwe. She is passionate about human
rights, including those for women in Zimbabwe, and universally.
Also billed to speak at the event is Agnes
Tanoh, a
resolute fighter for human rights and social justice who, like Mavis also
experienced detention and all the ills that go with the UK government’s
deliberate hostile environment, first hand and has lived to tell the story.
By dint of fate Mavis Harrison and Agnes Tanoh met 10
years ago in Yarl's Wood detention centre, right at the official start of the UK
government's "hostile environment". Ever since that day, Mavis has
been campaigning for justice.
For ten long years, Mavis and Agnes have not given up the
struggle. Last month, the two were reunited in Durham, at the national
demonstration against the new Hassockfield/Derwentside detention centre for
women.
After the event, Mavis said:
“It was an emotional day for me, meeting Agnes Tohah who
was one of the speakers. I was detained with Agnes ten years ago in Yarl's
Wood. To this day I have not healed and I am still seeking counselling. When I
saw her, I remembered the trauma we both went through and ten years later we
are here in Durham fighting for other women who are inside Hassockfield
detention centre and many other detention centres. It is just inhumane and
disgusting.”
The date of Mavis and Agnes meeting in Durham after ten
years was 14th May 2022.
In advance of the Week of action against the Hostile
Environment gathering in Manchester scheduled for Saturday 18th June
2022, Mavis had this message for people....”All it takes for injustice to
prevail is for society to turn a blind eye to it. We need to unite and speak
with one strong voice when injustice takes place. It should not matter whether
one is directly affected by the injustice or not because all human beings are
connected in one way or another”
Over the years Mavis has grown from strength to strength
in her campaigning and activism. She has
shown unfathomable resilience in the
face of all the challenges militating against her and remains resolute in fighting
for other women even though she herself went through misfortune in Zimbabwe.
her country of origin and here in the UK, her host country where she
experienced the horrors of detention first hand. She has not allowed
circumstances to define her or imprison her mind.
Her message to everyone who is having to endure injustice
is to be strong and be the voice of the voiceless. She asks the British
community to stand up in solidarity and fight for defenceless women whose
feelings are ignored, disgraced and treated with zero dignity.
By Information
& Publicity Department
Restoration of
Human Rights (ROHR) Zimbabwe
