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Below is an excerpt from a letter we received from Mahbubur Rahman, a former detainee and leader of the hunger strikes that spread in detention centers across the country last fall:
Picture of letter sent by former detainee Mahbubur Rahman
My name is Mahbubur Rahman and I am living in hiding in Bangladesh out of fear for my life. I had escaped Bangladesh in 2014 as a result of being targeted by the ruling government for my political affiliation and activities with an opposition party. I crossed more than 12 countries to get to the U.S., only to find myself in detention for nearly two years. Like me, there were dozens of other South Asians, Muslims, and Africans who were held indefinitely in detention with no opportunity for release, and so in late 2015 we launched hunger strikes in coordination with several other detention centers. As a result, we were abused and targeted, especially as leaders of the hunger strikes. After the hunger strikes ended, the U.S. And the Bangladeshi governments reached an agreement to deport us.
In March we were moved to Florence detention center in Arizona, and on the night of April 3rd they took 85 of us, from Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, for deportation. In the bus, the guards fired rubber bullets at us. At the airport they beat some of us, stuffed us in body bags, and threw us down the stairs or slammed us into the ground. They also used electric shocks on many of us.
We escaped abuse and violence to find safety and asylum in the U.S. But only found more abuse there. We continue to raise our voices for justice by telling our stories and sharing what we experienced during detention and deportation.
Now I am back in Bangladesh and facing not only the violence I escaped from, but now also targeted as a hunger striker and trouble maker. I have been here for two months and I still haven’t met my family because Bangladeshi intelligence keeps visiting my home and my family. Many other deportees are in the same situation. We are all in debt from the journeys we took, and also from all the family expenses during the time we were detained.
