UK: Campsfield update
01 May 1999
On 8 June detainees at Campsfield detention centre near Oxford went on hunger strike, once again drawing attention to the situation in which they find themselves. The detainees at Campsfield are asylum seekers, whose right to seek asylum has been taken away by Home Office officials. The centre is run by Group 4 Security, who are alleged to have treated detainees in a violent and abusive manner. There have been several protests at Campsfield in recent years, one of which, in August 1997, resulted in nine west African detainees being charged with riot and violent disorder. The case against them collapsed in June 1998 when the prosecution counsel told the judge that the jury could not be invited to convict the defendants on the evidence of Group 4 staff, after internal security cameras revealed it to be unreliable (see Statewatch vol 8 nos 3 & 4).
This hunger strike was on a smaller scale but the issues, highlighted in a statement issued by those involved, remain the same:
"We've come to the UK seeking shelter from injustice...hoping to get back our right to live full lives...the right that has been taken away from us in our home countries. We are not criminals...why lock us up like animals..."
According to a spokesperson from Asylum Welcome, the hunger strike ended quickly, but one man continued with the protest, and as a result became very ill.
It has been suggested that there was some connection between the hunger strike and the attempted suicide of one of the detainees. Visitors of the detainees point out that attempted suicide is not uncommon at Campsfield. The detainees have suffered the double trauma of having had to escape from adverse situations in their countries of origin and then of being locked up like criminals on arrival in the UK. In addition, detainees in Campsfield are not usually allowed access to local psychiatric treatment. Whilst they may access medical treatment for physical ailments locally, if they require psychiatric help, they may be transferred to Rochester prison in Kent, where conditions are generally considered to be even worse than those at Campsfield.
Another member of Asylum Welcome described two recently attempted suicides. In the first case, the detainee appeared to have tried to hang himself. His obvious distress at his situation was compounded by the fact that his solicitor is unable to give him any indication of when the Home Office will reach a decision on his case. The Home Office refused an application to release this detainee on humanitarian grounds. In another case, a detainee who attempted suicide by taking an overdose was handcuffed whilst his stomach was pumped, despite the fact that at least two guards accompanied him to hospital. Visitors of the detainees have described other cases of detainees being handcuffed on the way to receive, and during the course of dental treatment.
On 25 June, two of the Campsfield detainees escaped from the centre, scaling an 18 foot high fence topped with three coils of barbed wire. A spokesperson for the Close Down Campsfield campaign (CDCC) commented that the men could not be blamed for regaining their freedom, as it was unjust that they were locked up in the first place. The CDCC can be contacted at 111 Magdelane Road, Oxford, OX4 1RQ
Asylum Welcome; National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns; Big Issue 21.6.99.