( London NoBorders, Monday 31 January 2011 ) London NoBorders has received information that the hotel Company Arora International [1] has started a second attempt to make money from the Home Office's deportation business. The company plans to use the site of a residential school for children with behavioural and learning difficulties in Pease Pottage, Crawley, Sussex owned by the Arora Group
subsidiary "The Crossroads Childrens (sic) Education Services Ltd.",
into an immigration detention facility. It is the second attempt by Arora Hotels to extend their business into detention following the company's failure to gain planning permission to turn one of their hotels in Crawley into a holding facility for immigrants in 2010. [2] Crawley Forest School has been told to vacant the property by 1 April 2011.
The facility is located in Pease Pottage just outside Crawley. According to the letter from consultant firm CGMS Consulting [3] the location would be excellent due to its close proximity to Gatwick airport. Locals will be surprised to learn that Arora plans to push the whole planning process through within the next few weeks, filing the application this week and expecting the facility to be open by 11 May.
The letter makes no secret that the facility is planned to replace the use of Yarl's Wood and nearby Tinsley House detention facilities for holding families and children, and explicitly refers to this fact as an explanation of the need for urgency. The letter also explicitly refers to children inside the holding centre. Not only is the UKBA extending their detention capacity, but the government is also breaking their pledge to end the detention of children.
Rosie Young of London NoBorders stated: "Arora seems to be attempting to move into the immigration detention business at any price. this time they want to do it quickly and silently."
Thomas Harburg of London NoBorders added: "It is obvious what trick
that the Home Office is plays here. It does not matter what they call
this facility, if you are forced to be held in a building with a fence around it, waiting to be deported, it is another immigration detention facility. All that talk about the ending of the detention of children and families was just a media stunt"
London NoBorders, who have campaigned against Arora in 2009/10, announced today that they will immediately start a campaign against the new facility. "If Arora thought they get this through without anybody
noticing it," says Rosie Young, "they have failed".
For any further enquiries, please contact:
Email: noborderslondon@riseup.net
Tel: 07535 319119
http://london.noborders.org.uk
[1] www.arorahotels.com
[2] http://london.noborders.org.uk/arora
[3] a copy of the letter sent by CGMS