Besieged in Britain

Abstract

The effects of the war on terror in restricting civil liberties have been widely documented; its exacerbation of Islamophobia less so. But one shocking development has remained invisible — the rounding up, imprisonment and indefinite house arrest of a number of Muslim men resident in the UK, in a situation analogous to Guantánamo. Held for years without charge, under restricted regimes of twelve to twenty-four hour curfews, with virtually no access to the wider world and kept in ignorance of the alleged evidence against them, the impact on them and their families has been devastating. Many had come to Britain as refugees seeking a safe haven; some have been driven into madness, some have attempted suicide, some have left their families and returned voluntarily to regimes where they may face imprisonment and torture. The mental and physical health impacts on the men and their families, of an inhumanity that beggars belief, masked under the bureaucracy of 'control orders', 'SIAC deportation bail' and torturous legal processes, is here unveiled.