Margaret Donnelly, Justice and Peace Scotland's representative for Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre, has been involved with Dungavel since it opened in 2001, getting to know and keeping in contact with many of the detainees. Here Margaret reflects on her latest involvement.
Thursday 24th May
A member of a Justice and Peace Group in Newcastle contacted the Glasgow Group though their Facebook page to ask for assistance with a young woman who was being moved from Newcastle to Dungavel Removal Centre and was very frightened. Glasgow J&P contacted me.
Friday 25th May
When I received this information, I phoned the lady in Newcastle who had provided her telephone number and she gave me the information she had. The young woman was in her 20’s and had lived in Newcastle for several year she was Albanian, spoke good English and had contact with J & P through a centre for refugees which they were involved with.
On Wednesday 23rd of May while she was at home the Border Agency and police came and arrested her. The lady from J & P arrived later to deliver a food parcel she was not at home and phoned the Albanian lady to be told she had been taken to Glasgow. It was at this point I became involved. after checking it was okay to pass on her phone number, I called Dungavel and spoke to her. She was very frightened and told me she was a room on her own, couldn’t get the tv to work and had no money by this time she said her leg was sore. From our contact in Newcastle, I found out she had a long-term injury to her leg and had an appointment in July to attend Newcastle hospital.
Saturday 26th of May
I phoned Dungavel in the morning and spoke to the person on duty and told her what had been said to me. She had gone to see what the situation was and was able to tell me that:
1. because the young woman had come from outside Dungavel she was in isolation and could be for up to 20 days.
2. Money is put into an account at the shop which is in Dungavel and since she couldn’t leave her room, she could write a listen for things she wanted brought to her. I was able to pass the information onto her
The Following Days
I spoke to her several time over the following days she told me she saw the nurse who gave her paracetamol, but this wasn’t helping with her leg pain. She saw the chaplain who is Muslim as she is, and was able to speak with him. I did suggest that she contact a lawyer in Glasgow, and she told me that she had filled in a forum to contact one.
Several times when I tried to speak to her, she didn’t answer her phone, then I got a text message to say she had no money on it. I did phone her and say she could get money onto her phone via the shop at Dungavel. Then the contact at Newcastle told me she had a letter telling her she was going to be deported on Thursday 10th June and the following day she was being moved to Manchester. Two days later she would move to Colnbrook near Heathrow.
June 8th
The contact in Newcastle has spoken to her and found that she had not contacted a lawyer in Glasgow and so it is the lawyer who was assigned to her when she entered the country that is handling her case. It seems her leg injury has deteriorated, and she has had a visit to a hospital, and it is felt that this maybe be a reason to delay her deportation.
Whether or not the story has a happy ending, there is consolation in knowing that the J&P network is thriving, and we can call on one another for assistance.
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For more information on Margaret’s work with detainees in Dungavel, watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybiNpUFE3f4