‘Refugee Lives Matter’ in Derby Asylum centre protest over living conditions

A protest has been held outside of a Derby asylum centre, by its residents, against the living conditions. The group has assembled a list of grievances and asked for assistance from refugee charities.

15 of the asylum seekers held up signs and placards with one reading “Refugee Lives Matter” and another saying, “We Are Proud to Be Part of the Derby Community”. UNN’s Oliver Down understands that the group have already met with a number of local charities and organisations which include and Derby City Council to discuss their complaints.

The group are complaining about a lack of information from the Home Office; that Serco has left them in emergency accommodation for too long as well as being prohibited from signing up for language courses at Derby College, amongst other things.

In a somewhat bizarre request, the group is not satisfied with the entertainment facilities on-site at Laverstoke Court. The Derby Telegraph is reporting that “some of the 200 or so asylum seekers have been at the initial accommodation centre for nine months despite it being intended to house people for between three and six weeks. This is partly due to the coronavirus pandemic”.

One asylum seeker is currently acting as a spokesperson for the other residents and has said: “We like being here in Derby and we have made some good friends in the local community but in the centre, there is no personal privacy or a good environment for sleeping without noise, most of the residents here are not following the rules of respect for others, some people stay awake all night and make noise”.

Laverstoke Court was formerly student accommodation until it was turned into an asylum centre in early 2018. The site was then run by G4S on behalf of the Home Office. But since then Serco has taken over the contract.

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