UK: Fourteen escape Campsfield House detention centre
01 October 2007
Campaigners welcomed the escape of detainees imprisoned at the Campsfield House Immigration Detention Centre, Oxford, at the beginning of August. Twenty-six prisoners fled following a week of strikes and protests at the "appalling" and unsafe living conditions at the detention centre. The day after the protests, as tensions rose at the privately run centre, a fire was started near propane bottles near the kitchen and the 26 detainees fled. Over one month after the audacious escape 14 of the asylum seekers remained on the loose.
Prior to the escape, prisoners released a statement, accompanied by supporting photographs, explaining the reasons for their protest. The statement read:
"Detainees at Campsfield will be having a sit-out protest at 11.45 tonight 31 July 2007, followed by a hunger strike tomorrow. Newport immigration court, which is used for bail hearings and appeals involving Campsfield detainees, is very discriminatory compared to other courts in the UK: the bail application and appeal process rate there is less than 5%. Living conditions for detainees are appalling. Campsfield is a health hazard with 70% infection from flu. Paracetamol is the only medicine made available; two weeks ago even this ran out. Campsfield was rife with scabies, but only staff were issued with gloves. Although detainees are held civil detainees, not convicted prisoners or prisoners on remand, food, toilets and showers are a lot worse than prisons. Some detainees are being held even though they have won an appeal against deportation. Others have clearly stated that they want to go back to their country of origin but have still been waiting in Campsfield for months."
The last "disturbance" at Campsfield was in March when several detainees and staff were injured after a fire. A Home Office report predicted that overcrowding, poor physical conditions and bureaucracy could lead to further riots. The US company which runs the detention centre is Global Expertise in Outsourcing (GEO) - it also runs a migrant "operation centre" based at Guantanamo Bay.
For more information and regular updates on the plight of the Campsfield detainees visit the Campaign to Close Campsfield website: http://closecampsfield.org.uk