UK’s May ‘allowed abuse’ of women at Yarl’s Wood

British Home Secretary Theresa May has been accused of allowing the abuse of migrant women at the country’s notorious Yarl’s Wood detention center following revelations of maltreatment by the facility’s guards.

Yvette Cooper, the UK’s shadow home secretary, made the accusation on Tuesday during a House of Commons session, in which she asked an urgent question about the reported abuse at the center in Bedfordshire in east England.

On Monday, British broadcaster Channel 4 showed undercover footage from the center containing clips where guards described women at the site as “black b**ch,” “animals” and “beasties.” One of the guards also said “headbutt the b**ch,” adding, “I’d beat her up.”

In addition, another clip showed a guard saying, “They are all slashing their wrists, apparently. Let them slash their wrists ... It’s attention-seeking.”

Cooper (pictured above) described the maltreatment at the facility as “an utter disgrace,” saying “this is state-sanctioned abuse of women on the home secretary’s watch and it needs to end now.”

The shadow secretary criticized May for not attending the session and for her handling of the center as well as for her refusal to launch an independent inquiry into the situation at Yarl’s Wood.

In addition, Cooper condemned May for extending the contract for British firm Serco to run the detention center for another eight years despite numerous allegations of abuse, rape and self-harm.

May has “refused to establish an independent inquiry, refused to investigate allegations of rape and sexual abuse, refused to let the UN rapporteur even visit, refused to come to this House. Instead, in November, she renewed Serco’s contract,” said Cooper.

In response, Karen Bradley, a junior minister who was sent to the session instead of May, admitted that the broadcast report about the maltreatment at Yarl’s Wood is “serous and deeply concerning,” adding that the Home Office has asked Serco guards to wear body cameras to record their treatment of inmates.

Keith Vaz, the chairman of the home affairs select committee, who secured the urgent Commons question, called for all of the government’s contracts with Serco to be reviewed.

“This treatment is inhumane… We simply can’t allow this behavior to continue in a center which has a duty to protect,” said Vaz.

Yarl’s Wood detention center, which holds nearly 400 immigrants, has been plagued by damning reports about the guards’ treatment of detainees since the facility opened in 2001. Among the alleged cases are women being sexually assaulted, and being refused medical care. In one incident, a pregnant woman was left to have miscarriage without receiving medical support she required.

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