G4S is the UK's biggest private security company, with its government contracts alone worth over £600 million. Responsible for security services, managing detention centres, prisons, and 675 court and police station holding cells, G4S have also just been granted the £100 million contract for providing 10,000 security guards for the upcoming olympics.

Whilst G4S still seem to be government favourites, their record is far from spotless. The firm lost their previous 'forcible deportation' contract last September after receiving 773 complaints of abuse – both verbal and physical. The final straw came with the death of Jimmy Mubenga in October 2010, an Angolan asylum seeker who died as a result of his forced deportation by G4S guards. Two of the guards are on bail facing criminal charges, whilst G4S is still waiting to hear whether they are to face corporate manslaughter charges.

Now, asylum seekers in Yorkshire and Humberside are expected to accept this multi-national, money-hungry, security company as their landlords.

Monday, 9 July 2012

G4S News Update // 2nd - 8th July

G4S News Update // 2nd - 8th July

Activists Occupy the Roof of G4S HQ in London, Uk Indymedia, 2nd July 2012: No Borders activists scaled G4S' HQ in Crawley, West Sussex, to conduct a rooftop protests against G4S' involvement in illegal settlements in occupied territories in Palestine. 

Bedfordshire Police Privatisation on Hold Until Police Commissioner Appointment in November, Bedfordshire News, 2nd July 2012: After a lengthy meeting, the Bedfordshire Police Authority postponed decisions about outsourcing 'back-room policing' to G4S until the appointment of a new Police Commissioner in November. The Authority also agreed to explore alternative options of cost-savings within the police service. The next day, G4S' Managing Director of Policing Services was quick to re-iterate G4S' spin on policing privatisation - see this website for an interview with the MD. 

Nottingham City of Sanctuary Report on Destitution Highlights Concerns over new COMPASS contracts, BftF blog, 4th July 2012: CoS' report, titled 'Homelessness and Hope', detailed concerns with the new COMPASS contracts in the region, recently procured by G4S. Amongst other issues, they noted that the new contract costings are substantially lower than previous years, suggesting severe cuts to services. 

G4S Targets Bigger Events After Olympics, Reuters, 6th July 2012: Despite recent revelations about G4S' incompetent provision of security services at the London Olympics, expects to be awarded a bigger share of a four-year cycle of global events whose safety and security budget has been estimated at over $10 billion. 

International Campaign against G4S Gathers Momentum, UK Indymedia, 8th July 2012: Indymedia gives a summary of the last two months of international campaigns against G4S! 

OTHER NEWS AND UPDATES
- Birmingham Campaign Against Police Privatisation - Activists in Birmingham are planning to protest against the corporate takeover of policing services in the region on the 12th July. For further information, see the following website. 

Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)