Phillip Henry & Hannah Martin, who now fly under the endearing title of Edgelarks, have revealed a new music video for Yarl’s Wood, our Song of the Day. The song was written in response to the treatment of female detainees at the immigration removal centre in Bedfordshire from which the song takes its name.
The centre seems to be continually in the spotlight for the poor treatment of more than 400 detainees, some 90% of which are women. This has resulted in an ongoing number of hunger strikes and protests.
The centre was taken over by SERCO in 2007 from GSL but deep controversies still continue to surface. In April this year, The Independent told the story of a young woman detained despite being in the UK since the age of 13 and having gone through the education system and achieved A levels, she had aspirations of working in the charity sector. During May Bulman’s visit (the journalist who wrote the article), 120 detainees were on hunger strike. Read the article here.
I heard similar sad tales whilst at WOMAD last year – Refugee stories play an important role in reminding us that these are individual real people and not just news fodder to highlight the changing global political climate.
This video by Help Refugees is a grim reminder of how attitudes towards refugees have changed over time…a far cry from the ‘land of hope and glory’ and the promise of a safe future…something we all surely want.
“Help Refugees is one of the unsung heroes of the European refugee crisis, a young grassroots collective that has tried to create a more dynamic form of aid in Calais and Greece, where even seasoned aid workers admit their traditional models have failed.” – Patrick Kingsley, The Guardian
Find out more about Help Refugees here: https://helprefugees.org/uk/
Also: http://www.refugeewomen.co.uk/
Edgelarks have plenty of Summer Dates and Festival appearances including Priddy, Cambridge and Sidmouth Folk Week. Details here: http://www.philliphenryandhannahmartin.co.uk/shows.php