[Imc-uk-features] feature proposal: Campsfield riot

[Shiar]

Hi,

I would like to propose the following feature for the UK and Migration
pages. Do Oxford people want Oxford ticked as well?

-- 
Shiar

---------

Title: Resistance and Riot in Campsfield

Author: NoBorders

Image: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/images/2006/11/356902.jpg

Abstract:
<p>
Early in the morning of 14 March, an Algerian detainee held in <a
href="http://www.closecampsfield.org.uk/background/why.html">Campsfield
immigration prison</a> in Oxfordshire forcefully resisted an attempted
'removal' by the immigration authorities. Fellow detainees then tried to
intervene in solidarity and a riot soon spread in the detention centre,
with facilities smashed and set on fires. 2 detainees and 7 staff were
taken into hospital, all suffering smoke inhalation [see <a
href="/en/2007/03/365064.html">reports and updates</a>]. In addition to
emergency services, Tornado units (riot squads) from the Prison Service
were deployed to deal with the 'disturbances'. According to a <a
href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200607/ldhansrd/text/70315-wms0001.htm#07031537000006">written
ministerial statement</a> by Immigration minister Liam Byrne, 60 of the
detainees at Campsfield House have been transferred to other parts of the
Home Office detention estate, but other detainees have remained at the
centre, which holds up to 200 detainees and was operating at near full
capacity at the time of the riot.</p>
<p>
<strong>Links:</strong> <a
href="http://www.closecampsfield.org.uk">Campaign to Close Campsfield</a>
| <a href="http://www.ncadc.org.uk">National Coalition of Anti-Deportation
Campaigns</a> | <a
href="http://www.makebordershistory.org/workspace/Noborders_UK_communication_channels">UK
NoBorders groups</a>
</p>

Content:
<p>
Self-organised resistance and spontaneous riots in detention centres are
nothing new.
Last September, 66 detainees in Campsfield, mainly Turkish and Kurdish, <a
href="/en/2006/12/358361.html">went on hunger strike</a>, protesting
against the lack of information on how long their cases would take to be
processed. In June 2006, over 120 people detained in Campsfield <a
href="/en/2006/06/342951.html">went on hunger strike</a> in protest at
their indefinite detention without trial and the conditions they face. In
June 2005, all Zimbabweans detained in Campsfield <a
href"/en/2005/06/315021.html">went on hunger strike</a> in solidarity with
similar actions at other detention centres around the country against the
forced deportation of Zimbabweans, the living conditions of all detainees
and the abuses against them.</p>
<p>
Regular demonstrations and protests are also held outside the centre,
mainly organised by  the <a
href="http://www.closecampsfield.org.uk">Campaign to Close Campsfield</a>,
which was set up in 1993, when Campsfield House was first opened [<a
href="http://www.closecampsfield.org.uk/background/history.html">history</a>].</p>
<p>
The so-called Campsfield Immigration Removal Centre, near Kidlington, is
surrounded by 20ft fences, with razor wire on top. Refugees and migrants
who are not convicted of any crime or even charged with one are locked up
there, without time limit and with minimal chances of bail. The prison is
run by Group 4.</p>
<p>
In 2002, the the Home Secretary David Blunkett announced that Campsfield
was "outdated" and would be closed. The only possible reason was the level
of protests, inside and outside Campsfield.  But instead, the Home Office
sent the Cherwell District Council a planning application to <a
href="/en/2004/08/296919.html">expand it</a> from 180 to nearly 300
places! </p>