ON SATURDAY June 4500 people marched to Campsfield detention centre to protest against the injustice meted out to black people under the racist immigration laws.
The march called for the closure of the Campsfield, run by the notorious Group 4 and the immediate release of all those imprisoned by the immigration authorities.
A tourist travelling through rural Oxfordshire may find it - easy to imagine that the area, on the edge of the Cotswolds, is a haven of idyllic rural peace and that worst aspects of life in Tory Britain are many miles away in the inner cities of London and the West Midlands.
Side road
Tucked away down a side road close to Oxford Airport is Campsfield House detention centre - Britain's concentration camp for black people seeking asylum in a country that likes to pose as a champion of human Campsfield is the flagship of a number of prisons dedicated tainees fell to the ground tryto the detention of asylum seekers and other black people who wish to come to Britain. The welcome they receive is detention in often unbearable condiOnce a detainee under Britain's immigration laws a person is treated as a criminal, without having been given any kind of Campsfield isolates people from communities in Britain and hinders access to lawyers and advice agencies.
Fortress Europe The regime at Campsfield and its sister establishments at Haslar in Hampshire and Harmondsworth near Heathrow 500 protestors outside the Campsfield detention centre an attempt to stop the detainees responding with their own protest on the inside.
Large numbers of police, including riot vans and police horses were further evidence that the authorities are scared of any links between the detainees and the outside world.
When a group of 30 people attempted to march around the site to where some contact could be made with the detainees two people were arrested and one may face trumped up charges.
There were several speakers who showed that working class black people are fighting back against the immigration laws. Mohammed Sekhoun from the Algerian Community Association, Mohammed Idris from the West Midlands Anti-deportation Campaign, a speaker from the Community of Refugees from Zaire in Great Britain, Nirma Rahasingham from the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and a speaker from the National Union of Refugee Organisations.
There was some labour movement representation both on the march and amongst the speakers. Manny Blake from the N.C.U. spoke at the rally as did Tess Kingham, the Labour candidate for the Cotswold euro-constituency.
Jeremy Corbyn MP also spoke. Several Labour councillors were on the march. Marc Wadsworth spoke on behalf of the Anti-Racist Alliance.
Absentees
What was missing was any representation from the Labour front bench, who seem to be going along with the detention of immigrants and asylum seekers!
All anti-racists should build the campaign Campsfield, alongside with support fro all anti-deportation campaigns. There is another demonstration at Campsfield on June 25, and every last Saturday of the month.
There is also a regular Freedom' camp outside. These events should be built by all those who wish to see an end to the suffering caused by the controls on immigration.