Heroin dealers and the Taleban at Harmondsworth

People on Sunday in the 17 May issue ran a story about Harmondsworth Removals Centre. Daniel Jones gave us a rivetting account, allegedly smuggled out by a Turk named Suleyman Ergun. "Armed gangs, heroin pushers and violence are daily rituals at Harmondsworth, near Heathrow," it tells us, before going on to the diary entry for 30 April, when Ergun claims he is offered crack and heroin. It goes on like this for days, and indeed paints a picture darker than the darkest Goya. From the general public it drew gasps. But from the detainees of Harmondsworth, it only elicited laughs; except for those who felt vilified by the dramatic claims. The Afghans were Taleban members and bullies; the Kurds, suicidal maniacs; the Jamaicans violent thieving drug dealers; and on it went. And of course, for good measure, there is a story about a Tunisian coming back from the airport with bruises and a tale of being beaten up by the guards. Having spent the last few weeks as a translator for many of these men, I seriously doubt all of the claims; indeed, the perception exists that the whole account was a self-serving vehicle for him to assert that he roots for the England team, and the rest of the lot in there, save for one or two disabled men for whom his heart bleeds immensely. "Most detainees hate the UK," he claims. But on examination his claims do not seem to stand up. My own experience is that most detainees love it here, that is why they are trying to be here permanently. The young men wear Man U, Chelsea, Liverpool, or, yes, England shirts. Football and cricket are ties that bind many of them to these isles. And what are we to make of the cloak-and-dagger opening about smugging out the account - the detainees spend hours every day on the internet or on mobile phones and have access to a fax machine. Ergun, who claims he has been here all his life, certainly has access, or have the sadistic guards deprived him of such? An account I received, and not smuggled out, but more mundaley, sent by email, tells me that the hapless Turk tried to change his wing, but complained vociferously when put in a room with Afghans; then he was discovered as the author of the People on Sunday story, and since, his whereabouts have become a mystery. So we may have seen the last of this person, unless, as is rumoured, the same paper is to run more of his claims. But from many on the inside, I hear that this is all fabrication. There are no gangs, no drugs, and the Kalyx staff are actually well respected for the difficult jobs they have to do. The Afghans are vehemently anti-Taleban, which they are fleeing. Far from being hardened jihadists, they spend many hours in the company of former US Navy military men, each learning the other's language. Most of the Jamaicans spend their time in Bible study (when not with their lawyers). And as for the Kurds, far from being suicidal maniacs, they are in fact fleeing the Turks, especially the Ergenekon, which is the Turkish Secret Police. As the very name Ergun is a shadow of this feared institution, he would hardly have made friends among them; but was he about to face danger at their hands? I know them well and can tell you that he was in for no more than a few questions. But from these unpleasant possibilities, the staff at Harmondsworth has been obliged to shield him by removing him, for his own good, to parts unkown. But that in itself may provide fodder for a yet more exciting narrative in the future. We may yet hear more of this, smuggled out in the dead of night. But when we do, there are already those who have noted that Ergun, whilst he vilifies all and sundry, omits critical details about his own past, such as his bragging about running around France with a car full of heroin and weapons.
But this does not matter to the sensational churnalist of today who will take a report from such a person and run with it. They do not care that these accounts turn public opinion against the many asylum seekers who are locked up for sometimes years at at time. The fact that the HO puts in self-confessed heroin dealers adds insult to their injury. But the HO is not believed fit for purpose.
It it time to stop listening to the rubbish press and change that course. I am for a general amnesty for asylum seekers and people who are willing to work. However, I am NOT for a blanket amnesty for all. Gun toting heroin dealers who write nonsense to the press I would boot out, along with Jacqui Smith and Phil Woolas and a number of their colleagues.