I was lucky to survive Brook House immigration centre
Read our former client's letter in the Guardian responding to a death at Brook House IRC.
Following a death at Brook House our former client recalls the horrendous conditions in the centre and how violence and suicide attempts among those detained there become normalised. This letter was published in the Guardian on 10th November and in the print edition on 11th November.
CW: Suicide and violence.
Reading the news of a death at Brook House (Man dies in detention at immigration removal centre near Gatwick airport, 28 October), I couldn’t help but think of the many people I met while I was detained there who had no voice or support, and were fading into oblivion. So many lives have been destroyed by detention.
My time spent in Brook House was a nightmare. The conditions were horrendous in every aspect of the word. People were swallowing razor blades in front of me in desperation. I became desensitised to the violence I saw every day and the constant suicide attempts that I witnessed, which became normalised throughout the day. Someone I played dominoes with tried to hang themselves above me while I was eating breakfast.
People are lost and confused, and some clearly do not have the mental capacity to navigate the system. It’s like blurred faces – the system makes you feel like no one, like you have lost everything. I feel sad and privileged to be writing this outside of detention while many are still suffering and some will never make it out. That’s the sad truth. I can’t believe I survived it.
Image credit: George Goss
