"My family consists of myself, Claude Ndeh; Majolie my wife; my eldest child
Cyril Jason Yiah who was born on 18/03/2005, he has sickle cell anaemia; and
my youngest two children who are twins, Tchos Michel Kirsty who also has
sickle cell anaemia; and Atchom Lionel Gael, both of whom were born on
23/10/2006.
I will tell you firstly how we were arrested. There was a loud knock at the
door at 6 O'clock on Sunday morning, 11th May. The door would have been
broken if we hadn't opened it quickly. Majolie saw from a window that it
was immigration and police officers. I said that there was no point in
hiding.
Majolie opened the door to ten or eleven of them. All 5 members of the
family were in the house at the time. We were ordered to sit on the sofa in
the living room, then Majolie was told to follow officers upstairs to pack
some belongings. Majolie followed, but was then told to return downstairs
as she wasn't allowed to take anything. An officer said "It's a waste of
time." Instead one of the officers went upstairs to pack some things.
I asked for my phone so that I could call my solicitor. I already had a
letter from her agreeing to a meeting on the 19th May to make a fresh claim.
The officers asked where my phone was and I told them, thinking that they
wanted to help phone my solicitor. After that, I saw nothing.
One of the officers told another to take the bags outside. The bags only
contained clothes for Majolie and the twins. Then there was an order to
Majolie for her to come outside. I asked "can I bring anything from
upstairs?" I couldn't find my phone. I wanted to call my solicitor. An
officer said "I have the phones (mine and Majolie's). You aren't allowed to
call anybody until you're at Yarl's Wood."
I didn't get my phone back. When we got here I got a phone but it wasn't
the same phone, though, because my phone had a camera in it. I got my SIM
card inside a different phone.
The whole family was put into two prison vans. I was on my own and Majolie
was with the children in a different van. We were taken to a police station
near the Don Valley Stadium.
I asked an officer if the medicine for the children was in the bag. The
officer said yes.
We stayed in the two vans at the police station waiting for many hours. We
didn't have any changes of clothes and there were no nappies for the
children. We were allowed to use the toilet once.
At the police station an officer filled in an arrest form in front of me.
He didn't explain anything or why the arrest had happened. Neither I nor
Majolie had a clear view of the form and we didn't understand what it was
about.
I asked the officer "where are you taking us?" The officer said "I don't
know, but it's somewhere near Norwich."
The Police Officer filling in the form was asked why he was only filling the
form in now. He said "we keep postponing this."
I was told by my friend Fred that the search [or arrest?] warrant only
appeared in my house after we were taken. He discovered this when he called
around after we had gone. Whilst I was in the Police Station with Majolie
filling in forms, our children were still out in the van.
We left the Police Station at about 1pm. This time we were all in one van
with two officers - a male driver and a female officer. The children were
given some biscuits and juice before leaving. Majolie and I were offered
something, but we didn't want anything to eat because we didn't have any
appetite.
We arrived at Yarl's Wood at about 4pm, but we stayed in the van for nearly
an hour after that. It was very hot in the van so I asked if the windows
could be opened. The driver did so.
After getting out of the van, we stayed in reception for around 2 hours.
They searched our bags and took photographs of us all. They went through
the protocol, which involved an intimate body search.
Majolie told the medical staff about sickle cell and they filled this in on
a form to inform the authorities. Majolie asked for the children's
medication and the medical staff said they would see if they could get it.
The medication the officers took in the morning is still being held and we
have never seen it since we left the house. This includes cosmetics. The
medication has been here all the time, but they say they have been "checking
it" before they will give it out.
I put pressure on staff to bring the medication, but when they did bring it
eventually on Wednesday,it was no good as it was warm. It should have been
kept in a fridge. The medicine also only lasts for 5 days, so by now
[Thursday] it is no good. Now [Thursday] there is no evidence that there is
new medicine. They are simply trying to give us the old medicine which they
have now started to keep in a fridge, again after pressure from us.
We asked for a doctor to come and see our two disabled children on Monday.
He did call on Monday to make sure that the medicine he'd prescribed was
being taken. He was told that it wasn't being given to us and he became
upset. He prescribed more medicine on Monday, but this hasn't turned up
yet. Today [Thursday] is the first day that any medicine at all has been
given (in the morning).
Staff here promise that the medicine will be kept in a fridge and given
regularly. This remains to be seen. We need to administer the medication
to Kirsty with a syringe, but they won't give us one.
We would like our visitors to be allowed to take Jason to the hospital today
in Sheffield under the direction of Jenny Welch. She has told us in the
passed that if anything goes wrong with the children, take them straight to
hospital.
I can't trust the medical staff here as they have never done a blood or
urine test on Jason, which is always done at the hospital.
Jason isn't eating or drinking and has lost weight. This is dangerous
because of his sickle cell anaemia. We are very worried that he might not
survive. The medicine controls the sickle cell, it cannot be cured. He has
a high temperature and is shivering a lot, especially at night.
The other children aren't eating or drinking properly either. They are all
fatigued and lethargic. Kirsty also has sickle cell anaemia, but it hasn't
manifested itself like it has in Jason.
The medical centre is about 100m away from our cell and up some stairs.
Jason can't walk at all at the moment because he is so tired and has no
energy. He doesn't make any noise at all, which is very unusual for him.
Our room here has 2 single beds. It is about 4m by 5m. I mostly sleep on
the floor with Kirsty and Gael. Now because he is so ill, Jason has a bed
and Majolie has the other bed.
We can't drink the water in our room because the water from the tap is
dirty. We have been given no towels. Nothing. We have one towel meant for
one of the babies, which we brought with us. This is all we have.
There is no soap and no hot water. This means that the risk of infection is
high - especially for the children.
It gets too cold to sleep at night. We have no blankets. We were given two
sheets which are made of nylon. They are very thin and you can see through
them if you hold them up. 2 days ago I said that this wasn't enough and
explained that the children needed to be warm. They brought two more of the
same blankets. Jason has only been able to where the twins clothes up until
now (Thursday) as we didn't have any of his or a change of clothes for me.
Our visitors brought these today.
There is a canteen here. There is milk available from the shop, which is
all Kirsty is having. It costs 50p for half a litre and is always past its
use-by date.
There is hard rice and cooked potato available from the canteen. The food
here is unacceptable. It doesn't taste nice and people only eat because
they have to. The bins are full of food because people don't want to eat
it.
Majolie and I are under a lot of stress and haven't eaten much at all. This
is a prison and people are ordered back to their rooms for a head-count
regularly.
I am not even allowed to call my solicitor. I have credit on my phone, but
it is being controlled. If I try to phone my solicitor the answer comes
"you cannot call this number." My phone has been blocked. I gave the
number for my solicitor to a nurse when I came here and I think this may be
how they know which is my solicitor's number.
I came over to the UK on a boat in 2002. Majolie came on the 1st October
2004. She made an asylum claim when she came over, but she could produce no
evidence that she was being persecuted because of my political activity, so
her claim was rejected.
Majolie faced problems in Cameroon because of her relationship with me. She
was persecuted because of this. The authorities here didn't believe her.
The solicitor said that this didn't matter as my claim was good and that
Majolie could stay as my spouse.
I was the secretary and tract writer for the demonstration against the state
killing of 9 children in Cameroon. I also dispatched the leaflet in the
city. The chairperson of the campaign was called Bethuel Kouatou. His
claim for asylum in the UK because of his persecution for organising this
demonstration has been accepted yet mine hasn't. He has got refugee status.
It's not normal. It's not fair. I don't know why they are treating me
differently. I have all the evidence, the newspapers and have given it to
the Home Office.
When I came here on the 20th January 2002 I was in contact with the British
Red Cross. They brought the evidence here. Still nobody believes me. The
Home office has all the evidence.
Majolie remembers that in the first claim, the judge believed everything I
said, but nothing of what she said. I am frightened of being deported.
Before I escaped from Cameroon, I was in prison - as was Majolie. If I am
deported, as soon as I land back in Cameroon, I will be put straight back in
prison, as will we all.
We don't know exactly what would happen to the children. They would most
likely end up in prison with us. They would most certainly die. We would
all end up in the same room. There is a high risk of infection (especially
malaria) and this risk is heightened by sickle cell anaemia. Prisons in
Cameroon are dirty and over-crowded. In prison in Cameroon inmates get
beatings for breakfast!
We want help to get out of here [Yarl's Wood]. We also need urgent help to
get the two disabled children into hospital as soon as possible. They
randomly fall asleep and urgently need blood and urine tests."
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