Thirty detainees across immigration detention centres have been on hunger strike since Monday to protest their imminent deportation. The people filling the pockets and beds of these privatised hellscapes are relied upon to keep detention centres running, while infamous security contractors turn a profit from the suffering of migrants.
Serco is one of the companies that the UK government contracts to run its detention centres: a company that doesn’t just circle around misery like a vulture in our bloodstained skies, but actively participates in the war machine which leads so many to seek safety in one of the places these weapons come from.
Serco is partnered with Elbit Systems, israel’s weapons manufacturer, on the £2bn contract they are applying for from the Ministry of Defence. It is already providing services for Rafael, one of Elbit Systems’ subsidiaries, but now seeks not only to arm the IOF, but to train 2000 British troops in the art of genocide. And beware: for any of those who dare to intervene in this rotten supply chain, the last glimpse of the world outside the prison’s walls will be seen through the Perspex window of the Serco prison van.
So here, on the 27th day of our own hunger strike, we see the hunger strike as a lit beacon, proclaiming a network of connections hidden by distance and darkness; a call to action, with our bodies as our voice. So, solidarity with the thirty detainees. Your choice of action tells us all we need to know about your struggle, for a hunger strike is a gamble you make with your life, one that is never made lightly.
A king has never been on hunger strike. And it is kings, not migrants, that we could live without. From his majesty’s prisons, we’re with you.