On 19 September 2001, I was sitting on a plane from Abidjan to the UK. As I looked out the window, I thought that nothing worse than fighting against Charles Taylor\u2019s army at home in Liberia could happen to me. I thought that the mental images from witnessing horrendous physically and morally degrading acts inflicted on others by the army would go away. I thought that I would now be safe from arrest for exposing wrong-doing by Taylor\u2019s government. I thought that the memory of my fianc\u00e9e being raped and killed would be dulled.<\/p>\n
But I did not know then that a dark shadow from the events in Liberia had followed me. I now know it to be post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder. If only I had known that I had PTSD, things I went through would have been different.<\/p>\n
I claimed asylum in the UK. I did tell the UK Border Agency about my torture and experiences in Liberia but nothing was given to me, no assistance. I was refused asylum but given temporary leave to remain. I was left in the community with no-one to help me. And as my mental health declined, I turned to a world of drink and drugs. I lost my job and committed crimes to support my drug habit.<\/p>\n
In 2006 I was sectioned under the Mental Health Act. I stayed three months in a mental institution in Salford. No-one had time to go into the reason why I was enduring psychotic episodes. After I was released, I had no care plan initiated.<\/p>\n
I was then arrested again and sent to Durham prison. After the completion of my sentence in October 2008, I was detained by immigration in the prison, rather than a detention centre, for an additional three months. I was then taken to the Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre in Scotland. At this time my mother died. I was confused, I was under so much pressure, so I just signed a disclaimer to go back, to see my mother\u2019s grave. They moved me to another detention centre \u2013 Oakington \u2013 which was even worse; they didn\u2019t have facilities for my mental health there either, so they sent me to Harmondsworth.<\/p>\n
Even after I was finally diagnosed with mental health difficulties in 2010, proven to have gone through torture by an independent medical report, and my asylum claim was validated by a country expert report, I was still detained. By now I had been detained for almost three years. I gave up to the extent that I tried to commit suicide. I thought that was the easiest way out of my pain and misery. <\/p>\n
Detention means no entry. The locked door is a normal thing that we have to endure. In detention, we are like a herd of sheep, being chased by a pack of wolves. One of the officers said to me \u201cyou either go to your country or you die in here.\u201d<\/p>\n
I was released by the courts in 2011, because the Home Office had no grounds to keep me in detention any longer. I have now been given three years\u2019 leave to remain in the UK. The Home Office withdrew from the hearing on my unlawful detention case, and agreed to give me compensation.<\/p>\n
Every country has a right to control its borders. But human rights law says that a person should only be detained when there is a legitimate reason, not just administrative convenience. There is a moral obligation to give the detainee the right to a free trial, with legal representation, to fully consider whether he or she must be detained.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
William c\/o Freed Voices, Detention Action www.detentionaction.org.uk<\/a> For more information please contact jerome@detentionaction.org.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On 19 September 2001, I was sitting on a plane from Abidjan to the UK. As I looked out the window, I thought that nothing worse than fighting against Charles Taylor\u2019s army at home in Liberia could happen to me. I thought that the mental images from witnessing horrendous physically and morally degrading acts inflicted…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","fmr_themes":[],"fmr_region":[],"fmr_issue":[92],"fmr_year":[],"fmr_content_type":[27],"fmr_languages":[36],"fmr_list_years":[562],"class_list":["post-33976","fmr_content","type-fmr_content","status-publish","hentry","fmr_issue-92","fmr_content_type-article","fmr_languages-english","fmr_list_years-562","entry","no-media"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n