[Imc-uk-features] featue propsal: It is no crime to escape an illegal prison!

[Genny]

Yeah, I think this should go up asap.
Some suggested edits below.

Cheers

Genny

Shiar wrote:
> Title: It is no crime to escape an illegal prison!
> 
> Author: No Borders
> 
> Image:
> 
> Abstract:
> <p>
> Around 10.30pm on Saturday, a riot broke out in Campsfield immigration
> prison, Oxfordshire, leading to <a href="/en/2007/08/377613.html">26
> migrant prisoners escaping</a>. 12 have since been recaptured, while the
> rest are still on the run. It followed a yard protest on Tuesday night
> against the appalling conditions inside the detention centre, which is run
> by Global Expertise in Outsourcing (GEO), and the discriminatory decisions
> of Newport immigration court, which is used for bail hearings and appeals
> involving Campsfield detainees. A 

a [remove]

hunger strike was started on Wednesday
> but was put on hold pending a meeting with Home Office representatives on
> Friday. A further yard protest on Friday night was held as the meeting <a
> href="/en/2007/08/377519.html">failed to 

meets [replace with meet]

the prisoners' demands</a>.

Maybe reword the above sentence, as 'meeting failed to meet' doesn't 
read very well.
How about 'When these representatives failed to meet the prisoners' 
demands, a further yard protest was held on Friday night.'?

> A <a href="">solidarity demo</a> at Campsfield House has been called for
> Tuesday, August 7th, from 12 noon to 2pm.</a>
> <p>
> Last week, a revolt in a detention centre in Bari, Italy, led to at least
> <a href="/en/2007/07/377310.html">35 migrants escaping</a>.
> <p>
> <strong>Links:</strong> <a href="http://www.noborders.org.uk">No Borders
> UK</a> |  <a href="http://www.closecampsfield.org.uk">Campaign to Close
> Campsfield</a>
> 
> Content:
> 
> <p>
> According to the Campaign to Close Campsfield, detainees were evacuated
> into the yard 

[add 'at']

around 10:30pm on Saturday after a fire in the centre's
> makeshift kitchen (a Portakabin where the centre's detested diet of chips
> is prepared). There was allegedly a risk 

[add 'that']

the large gas bottles stacked
> outside would explode. Then, at about 10:45, reports came in that a group
> of detainees were smashing through the back gate. At about 11:30,
> detainees were being marshalled back into their cells and locked in,

[add a space here]

while
> a police helicopter was circling around. No fewer than eight fire
> appliances 

were there. [replace with 'attended']

  Hoses were being paid out although the kitchen fire
> had reportedly been extinguished.</p>
> <p>
> A while later a new fire broke out in one of the accommodation blocks and
> detainees were evacuated into the yard again. Meanwhile, another group
> were trying to break out but these did not succeed. About 6 police
> vehicles were already at the side gate, with dogs and some officers
> donning riot gear. There was a moment of
> drama when the "spacemen" approached the penned-in detainees and were
> pelted 

[add 'with']

mud, small stones and insults.</p>
> <p>
> Around 6:30 on Sunday morning, detainees were taken back inside and were
> "locked down" with police lining the corridors of the centre.</p>
> <p>
> A <a href="/en/2007/07/377369.html">statement</a> by detainees at
> Campsfield House on

[remove space before colon] :

[is there something else to go here?]

> </p>
> <p><em>
> 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 success rate there is
> less than 5%.<em></p>

[Not sure about the wording of the above.  Er...  Can't think how to 
reword it... something like: 'Immigrants cannot expect a fair hearing in 
court, where they experience discrimination and injustice.  The bail 
application and appeal success rate at Newport immigration court is less 
than 5%, far lower than the UK average.' or even better 'compared with 
the national average of x% (which I couldn't find!)]

> <p><em>
> Living conditions for detainees are appalling. Campsfield is a health
> hazard with 70% 

infection [replace with 'of people infected']

with flu. Paracetomol 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 

[add 'as']

civil detainees, not convicted prisoners or prisoners on remand,
> food, toilets and showers are a lot worse than in 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."</em></p>
> <p>
> A <a href="/en/2007/08/377641.html">statement</a>  

[remove one space before 'by']

by No Borders noted
> that police have portrayed the escapees as criminals, urging members of
> the public to "contact us immediately should they see anyone they believe
> could be one of those involved." Seeking asylum, 

it added [because last quote was from the police, it sounds like the 
police are 'it' here.
Change to 'the statement continues,']

"is not a crime
> and these people should not have been imprisoned. We call upon members of
> the public to assist these vulnerable people." The BBC had proudly <a
> href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/player/nol/newsid_6930000/newsid_6931800?redirect=6931801.stm&news=1&bbwm=1&nbwm=1&bbram=1&nbram=1&asb=1">reported</a>
> that a local resident in Kiddlington tackled and detained one of the
> escapee asylum seeker who asked him for help.</p>
> 
> <h4>Campsfield immigration prison</a>
> <p>
> Campsfield House was converted into an immigration detention centre in
> 1993, amid a storm of protest from local residents [history]. The
> so-called Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) is run by American company GEO
> and is surrounded by 20ft fences, with razor wire on top. It holds up to
> 200 male asylum seekers at any time. Within 6 months of its opening, six
> asylum seekers escaped following a rooftop protest. Regular demonstrations
> and pickets outside Campsfield, mainly organised by the Campaign to Close
> Campsfield, have since become a common occurrence.</p>
> <p>
> In March this year, Campsfield witnessed <a
> href="/en/2007/03/365388.html">another riot</a> when detainees tried to
> intervene and stop a forceful 'removal' of a fellow Algerian detainee.
> Following the 'disturbance', Robert Whalley CB was asked by the Home
> Office to <a href="/en/2006/11/357432.html?c=on#c177623">extend his
> investigation</a> into the Harmondsworth disturbance on 28-29 November,
> 2006, to that establishment as well. Among other things, Mr Whalley said:
> </p>
> <p><em>
> "The Harmondsworth and Campsfield House disturbances were very different,
> both in causation and in how they unfolded. Both occurred at a time when
> recent population pressures, falling heavily on vulnerable fabric in a
> hard-pressed detention estate, were accompanied by dislocation in casework
> handling, especially in the case of Foreign National Prisoners, which
> caused a build up of latent tensions."</em></p>
> <p><em>
> "It did not take much to trigger these events. When they started, they
> soon escalated, despite best efforts to prevent this happening. The
> underlying causes are still there and, without any changes, the same thing
> could happen again at either establishment."</em></p>

[As this quote doesn't go on to demonstrate how the disturbances were 
'very different', maybe the beginning could be contracted to read 'The 
Harmondsworth and Campsfield House disturbances... both occurred'.]

> 
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