Nearly 200 people gathered Saturday 21st March in Bedford town centre, than heading to Yarl's Wood immigration prison, demanding its closure. Yarl's Wood has 405 capacity and holds single women and families with children. The building of a new immigration prison, next to Yarl's Wood, has just been approved, to hold 500 single men.

There were many asylum seekers and ex-detainees in the protest, alongside anti-racist groups, students and campaigners. Most people came from London, but there were Bedford based campaigners and people from Birmingham, South Wales, Leicester, Oxford, Brighton...
There were also lots of police to cordon the protest.

see also: Yarl's Wood 2009

According to a report of "The Times" today, a joint Anglo-French detention centre is being planned for Calais to hold hundreds of migrants gathering near the Channel port.

As the report continues, "Phil Woolas, the Immigration Minister, disclosed proposals to tackle the surge of migrants, many from Afghanistan and Iraq, at Channel ports hoping for a new life in Britain. "

Presentation of the Idea of the NoBorder Camp in Calais in 2009 and Film Screening.
Wednesday March 18th, 7pm @LARC, London Activist Resource Centre, 62 Fieldgate Street, E1 1ES (nearest tube Whitechapel or Aldgate East)

Initiatives from the UK, France and Belgium are currently preparing a protest camp in Calais, France, which will take place from June 23-29th, including a transnational demonstration on Saturday June 27th.

In the last 15 years Calais became a symbol of the European border regime and repression against migrants, forcing thousends of migrants each year to sleep rough in the woods around Calais, denying them basic rights and humanitarian support.