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Read more about upcoming events on the
Events page.
Demonstration at Harmondsworth and Colnbrook
2006-04-08 -
London
Scotland International Day of Action
2006-04-08 -
Glasgow
Communications House Demonstration
2006-04-10 -
London
Demonstration and March in Manchester
2006-04-15 -
Manchester
Demonstration at Campsfield House
2006-04-29 -
Oxford
Convergence on Villawood Detention Centre
2006-04-14 -
Australia
Solidarity Vigil at Perth Detention Centre
2006-04-?? -
Australia
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Campsfield Monitor 1998
Conditions at Campsfield: a detainee comments
Before the press came to visit Campsfield, they brought in computers and books, and their attitudes changed. They told some newly arrived detainees that they must play in the gym (which is something we never do, we are too depressed, we just stay in our rooms) - and they gave them cigarettes as an inducement. What they showed the press was not the reality. They subject us to racist abuse. I arrived in September last year; we had to knock on our doors if we wanted to go to the toilet, and we could only smoke in the corridors.
When you are under stress, they take advantage of it to provoke you. If you react, you are sent to prison. They have lists; the people they want to pursue get three stars on these lists. There are many very unhappy people here, they cannot telephone, and they have no contacts outside. It's moral torture; I'm not exaggerating, I haven't invented anything.
They are now building metal doors inside Campsfield, like prison. There are new microphones and loudspeakers, very disturbing. They have changed the door on the mosque, so that there is a window and a camera. When we asked a Group 4 guard not to walk wearing his shoes on the carpet in the mosque, he said 'I hate Muslims' - so there was trouble; a detainee was wounded and had to have an operation.
For three or four days all except one of the toilets and showers were closed; people were queuing.
The doctor is no good. When I was ill, from the effects of persecution in my country, the guards ignored me and stopped other people from helping me; eventually they took me in handcuffs. People are not examined when they are suffering. If there is a medical emergency, you have to wait for the doctor's hours, sometimes the next day.
All the Group 4 guards are the same. They don't care at all. They laugh at you, they try to ridicule people, and they go into your room without knocking. It's they who provoke the detainees. They say and do really racist things. There are no good ones; if there were, I don't think they would last.
Plain rice, scalding water and an injury in segregation: facts of life in Campsfield
Detainees report that for several days last summer they were served with plain white rice 'without sauce', by which they mean rice on its own, unaccompanied by meat or vegetables; they resorted to butter and eventually complained, a bold act which may have led to the removals to prison and the events which followed on 20 August 1997. Others ventured to complain about the fact that the water was so hot that they could not take showers, and that 'drinking water' was available only from the toilets.
One detainee was removed to the new segregation unit in a Portakabin at the back of the camp; when he came out the next morning, his hand was bleeding and he told fellow detainees that he had been attacked with a screwdriver. After this he was so scared of Group 4 that he would only go to the toilet if friends came with him.
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Escape?
2003-01-26 -
A prisoner in HMP Bullingdon writes.
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Campsfield House is hell fire on Earth.
2003-01-26 -
The account that follows is from someone who was forced to flee from Nigeria. He is certain that if he returned his life would be in extreme danger. If he were to succeed in his request for asylum, he would enrich the UK with his many working skills. All he is asking for is a chance to work and get on with his life, while coming to terms with the trauma he has experienced. This trauma has been intensified by experience in detention.
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...something needs to be done...
2003-01-26 -
The following account was given at a conference to end detention in Europe, in September 2000 in Oxford. HK is a Ugandan refugee, who spent 17 months in Harmondsworth and Tinsley House. He is still waiting for refugee status.
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Appeal for Urgent Intervention
2003-01-29 -
Gabriel Nkwelle had been held in detention in six institutions in England since 2001. The accounts that follow are excerpts from his letters from Rochester, Haslar and Belmarsh. The full letters can be found on the website for the Close Campsfield Campaign at http://www.closecampsfield.org.uk. He has finally been granted refugee status.
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"I can't go back to my country and I'm asking for political asylum"
2003-01-29 -
This account describes arrival in the UK, experiences of the immigration service and detention in Campsfield. It comes from a man from a European country who, after two years of being subjected to immigration bail restrictions, has finally won his case on appeal. He has been recognised as a refugee under the 1931 Geneva Convention. Since his arrival in the UK he has helped numerous other asylum seekers including detainees.
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Campsfield Monitor 1998
2003-01-29 -
Highlights from the Campsfield Monitor 1998. Conditions are shown to be deteriorating.
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I have been five months in detention. I have had no antenatal care.
2003-01-29 -
This short piece is the only one from a woman who has been detained.
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...when you are in the minority yours will be a test of courage.
2003-01-29 -
A speech given at the Conference to Defend Asylum Seekers, held at Cross Street Chapel, Manchester, Saturday March 23rd 2002.
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