Detainment in the UK

My adventures are generally based on deviant activities, activism and alternative politics in the United States with this blog or my research and work in sub-Saharan Africa (the pastoral food security blog). At the moment, however, I am being detained by UK immigration at Harmondsworth, England, a detention centre near Heathrow Airport. I have been detained by the authorities since Tuesday 11:40, the 20th of September 2011, and in the downward spiral of events, I will likely be here for another week or two, perhaps longer, depending on what unfolds with my fight for entry into the United Kingdom.

These are some preliminary observations. More will come on subjects relevant to detainment but I wanted to start documenting this experience as, with the exception of Russians and Albanians, I am the only White person being detained at the moment, in fact the only American. Most of those spending weeks, months and even years at these centres are Indians, Pakistanis, Somalis, Algerians, Egyptians, Trinidad-Tobagoans, Sri Lankans, Nigerians, Congolese, Senegalese, Cameroonians, Bangladeshis, as well as many other nationalities. when they ask what my nationality is ... this question comes before any others, which is certainly understandable but quickly tiresome ... their eybrows raise when they here I am from the United States. For them an American should not be going through the frustrations and problems that they are experiencing. But as frustrating as it is to be detained and delayed in my plans to return, live, and work in sub-Saharan Africa, I see this as an opportunity to learn their stories and document the conditions these individuals face at UK detention centres.

As one can imagine with the large numbers of people detained by the UK border agency, Harmondsworth is not the only detention centre in the country. There are other centres in Colnbrook, Dover (convenient as there is the ferry over to Calais, France), Brook House, Campsfield House, Yarl's Wood and Oakington, including one in Scotland near the city of Glasgow called Dungavel. The one in Dungavel is coed, and this has apparently lead to some unintentional, international romances and pregnancies. Many detainees, whether there is contact with the opposite sex or not, have difficulty in dealing with the long waits, the stress and fear of either going through bureaucratic process to become an UK citizen or deportation to their own country or country the UK border agency believes the person comes from. 

I will write more later. For the moment, I wanted to give some preliminaries from my discussions with the other detainees at Harmondsworth Detention Centre, United Kingdom.