Campsfield: another rooftop protest
On Sunday November 14 at 7.00am, two Asylum Seekers from India climbed onto the roof of Campsfield Detention Centre, an Immigration Detention Centre at Kidlington, six miles from Oxford.
Later in the day they were joined on the roof by another 18 asylum seekers from India. One of the initial protestors had been in detention for 15 months the other 11 months. They argued that they have been in detention far too long and should be released immediately.
They were also complaining against the extortionate bail demands being made by the Home Office. Asylum seekers in Campsfield making bail applications are being required to lodge sureties of £10,000. This is an impossible amount for people who mostly arrive penniless in the UK and who have no friends or relatives rich enough to deposit these outrageous sums.
Campsfield Detention Centre is an abomination against human rights. It is a prison run for private profit by Group 4, supervised by Home Office immigration officials. Six years ago on November 27 1993 the first detainees were admitted. On average there are 180 detainees in Campsfield House. Most are political refugees fleeing danger, torture and even death from countries such as Nigeria, Algeria, Ghana, Turkey, India, Zaire and Eastern Europe.
Many of those locked up in Campsfield, have seen nothing of the UK but airports, prison cells and the backs of Group 4 security vans. The only people they have met are immigration officials, police and security guards.
They are held without charge, without time limit, without proper reasons given, and without proper access to legal representation. Asylum seeker Karamjit Singh Chahal for example spent over 6 years in prison before he was recognised as a refugee.
Amnesty International reports that there are breaches of internationally recognised human rights. The former Chief Inspector of HM Inspectorate of Prisons (Judge Stephen Tumim) and The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture have condemned conditions at Campsfield.
Razor wire
Detainees are held behind a twenty-foot high razor-wire topped fence. Throughout the centre there are surveillance cameras, and friends and relatives wishing to visit detainees are searched before passing through five separate remote-controlled doors.
Campsfield House operates like a high-security prison despite the fact that those inside have committed no crime - unless seeking refuge from torture and repression is now considered a crime in New Labour's Britain.
The food is bland, monotonous and poor quality.
Medical facilities are poor.
The library is inadequate and there is little to do.
The small shop is expensive and poorly stocked.
Detainees arriving without spare clothes are not provided for.
The buildings are cramped and recreation areas were unpleasant.
For someone who has escaped from torture and imprisonment in their own country the effects of detention in the UK are devastating. Detention reflects the government's utter lack of respect and an absence of humanitarian concern for asylum-seekers, and other immigrants.
Detainees at Campsfield have a long history of protest against the unacceptable way in which they are treated by the British state and the inhuman conditions that are meted out to them.
In August 1997 for example there was a serious disturbance at the camp after which nine arrests were made.
The case against the protestors collapsed after it was shown in court that Group 4 officers were contradicting each other.
It is also clear that the detainees have gained strength from the long running solidarity campaign run by local activists. The authorities have also recognised this and retaliated - for example by making the perimeter fence higher so that is more difficult for those inside to see the demonstrators outside.
But yet again the recent protest shows that the resolve of those inside remains remarkably strong despite their barbaric treatment.
It also reminds us why it is so important to attend the mobilisations called by the campaign.
Close Campsfield, all detention/centres, and detention/prisons;
Stop immigration detentions and imprisonment;
Stop racist deportations;
Repeal all immigration laws, laws which only serve to reinforce racism.