Campsfield House IRC - Revision history

Phil Miller at 09:07, 30 November 2015

2015-11-30T09:07:42Z

Phil Miller: /* 2015 inspection report and expansion plan defeated */

2015-11-30T08:54:51Z

2015 inspection report and expansion plan defeated

Phil Miller: /* 2015 expansion plan defeated */

2015-11-30T08:54:01Z

2015 expansion plan defeated

Phil Miller: /* 2014 expansion plan and hunger strike */

2015-11-30T08:45:42Z

2014 expansion plan and hunger strike

Phil Miller at 08:45, 30 November 2015

2015-11-30T08:45:18Z

Phil Miller: /* 1994 hunger strike */

2015-11-30T08:42:48Z

1994 hunger strike

Phil Miller at 08:38, 30 November 2015

2015-11-30T08:38:28Z

Phil Miller: /* 2014 hunger strike */

2015-11-30T08:36:40Z

2014 hunger strike

Phil Miller: /* 2000 protests */

2015-11-30T08:24:38Z

2000 protests

Phil Miller: /* 2010 */

2015-11-30T08:22:23Z

2010

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:07, 30 November 2015
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	In March the government withdrew its plan to expand Campsfield.<ref>'[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-31851365 BBC, 12 March 2015]', ''Campsfield House immigration centre expansion plan shelved'', accessed 30 November 2015</ref> There had been extensive local campaigning against the plan. Immigration Minister James Brokenshire said that the government was reviewing the detention of vulnerable people and examining the wider requirements of the immigration detention estate, including "capacity, purpose and location".		In March the government withdrew its plan to expand Campsfield.<ref>'[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-31851365 BBC, 12 March 2015]', ''Campsfield House immigration centre expansion plan shelved'', accessed 30 November 2015</ref> There had been extensive local campaigning against the plan. Immigration Minister James Brokenshire said that the government was reviewing the detention of vulnerable people and examining the wider requirements of the immigration detention estate, including "capacity, purpose and location".
		+
		+	==Links==
		+
		+	*[https://closecampsfield.wordpress.com/ Campaign to Close Campsfield] - a local campaign group against Campsfield which has held a montly demonstration outside the centre ever since it opened
		+	*[https://www.facebook.com/oxfordmigrantsolidarity/ Oxford Migrant Solidarity] - group supporting detainees in Campsfield
		+	*[https://barbedwirebritain.wordpress.com/ Barbed Wire Britain Network] - campaign against immigration detention
		+	*[http://www.asylum-welcome.org/ Asylum Welcome] - charity that visits detainees in Campsfield

	==Notes==		==Notes==

@@ Line 167: / Line 167: @@
 But at Campsfield the screening process “failed adequately to safeguard the most vulnerable detainees, including those who had been tortured.” The inspectors found that doctors’ reports were incomplete, and “did not provide adequate clinical judgements to inform caseworkers’ decisions”.
-    “In two separate cases, a doctor stated that a detainee might have been the victim of torture but caseworkers maintained they should remain in detention stating that this would not impact on the detainee’s health; the impact on their health was irrelevant as Home Office policy is not to detain torture survivors. In another case, a caseworker maintained that a person should remain in detention because he ‘did not mention being tortured during your screening interview ….”
+“In two separate cases, a doctor stated that a detainee might have been the victim of torture but caseworkers maintained they should remain in detention stating that this would not impact on the detainee’s health; the impact on their health was irrelevant as Home Office policy is not to detain torture survivors. In another case, a caseworker maintained that a person should remain in detention because he ‘did not mention being tortured during your screening interview ….”
 Healthcare at Campsfield is provided by The Practice, a private medical company that last year agreed a “significant financial settlement” with the mother of Brian Dalrymple, an American tourist with mental health problems who had claimed asylum after landing in Britain. An inquest jury found that “medical neglect” had contributed to his death.

@@ Line 148: / Line 148: @@
 When this hunger strike started, supporters gathered outside Campsfield. Acting Centre Manager [[Andrew Simpson]] came out to keep an eye on them. Simpson had spent over twenty years in the Prison Service, where he specialised in riot control.
-====2015 expansion plan defeated====
+====2015 inspection report and expansion plan defeated====
-In March the government withdrew its plan to expand Campsfield.<ref>'[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-31851365 BBC, 12 March 2015]', ''Campsfield House immigration centre expansion plan shelved'', accessed 30 November 2015</ref>  There had been extensive local campaigning against the plan. Immigration Minister James Brokenshire said that the government was reviewing the detention of vulnerable people and examining the wider requirements of the immigration detention estate, including "capacity, purpose and location".
+In February, the chief inspector of prisons published a report on Campsfield House.<ref>'[http://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2015/02/Campsfield-House-web-2014.pdf HMIP, 2015]', ''Report on an unannounced inspection of Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre'', accessed 30 November 2015</ref> It revealed that a 16 year old had been detained "by mistake" for 62 days, torture victims were held in defiance of Home Office rules and there was dirty, overcrowded accommodation.<ref>'[https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/phil-miller/child-locked-up-%E2%80%98by-mistake%E2%80%99-for-62-days-at-adult-immigration-jail openDemocracy, 5 February 2015]', ''
 ==Notes==

@@ Line 138: / Line 138: @@
 The fire brigade's advice was finally accepted and sprinklers were installed at Campsfield. But it would not receive planning permission until late April, meaning migrants continued to be detained in a building that was manifestly unsafe. Furthermore, the Home Office announced that it planned to double the capacity of Campsfield.
-[[Image:Proposed-Campsfield-expansion-2014.png|400px|center|thumb|'''Proposed expansion of Campsfield House IRC with 280 extra beds, 2014 (Ministry of Justice)''']]
+[[Image:Proposed-Campsfield-expansion-2014.png|800px|center|thumb|'''Proposed expansion of Campsfield House IRC with 280 extra beds, 2014 (Ministry of Justice)''']]
 Farid Pardiaz, the young man who started the Campsfield fire, was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court to 32 months in prison after pleading guilty to committing arson. Judge Mowat acknowledged that his reasons for doing so stemmed in part at least from they way his asylum claim was being treated: “Mr Pardiaz appeared to have had mixed motives for setting light to bedding in his room, from which fire spread into the roof space of Blue Block at the centre. He had wished both to kill himself and also to show the authorities how strongly he felt that he should not be returned to Afghanistan, where he feared for his life.” The judge, “accepted that Mr Pardiaz had not meant to cause the damage and losses estimated by outgoing centre manager [[Paul Morrison]] of Mitie, which runs the centre, as mounting to over £900,000, but she nevertheless had to take the high cost into account in deciding the sentence.”

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:45, 30 November 2015
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	The fire brigade's advice was finally accepted and sprinklers were installed at Campsfield. But it would not receive planning permission until late April, meaning migrants continued to be detained in a building that was manifestly unsafe. Furthermore, the Home Office announced that it planned to double the capacity of Campsfield.		The fire brigade's advice was finally accepted and sprinklers were installed at Campsfield. But it would not receive planning permission until late April, meaning migrants continued to be detained in a building that was manifestly unsafe. Furthermore, the Home Office announced that it planned to double the capacity of Campsfield.
		+
		+	[[Image:Proposed-Campsfield-expansion-2014.png\|400px\|center\|thumb\|'''Proposed expansion of Campsfield House IRC with 280 extra beds, 2014 (Ministry of Justice)''']]

	Farid Pardiaz, the young man who started the Campsfield fire, was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court to 32 months in prison after pleading guilty to committing arson. Judge Mowat acknowledged that his reasons for doing so stemmed in part at least from they way his asylum claim was being treated: “Mr Pardiaz appeared to have had mixed motives for setting light to bedding in his room, from which fire spread into the roof space of Blue Block at the centre. He had wished both to kill himself and also to show the authorities how strongly he felt that he should not be returned to Afghanistan, where he feared for his life.” The judge, “accepted that Mr Pardiaz had not meant to cause the damage and losses estimated by outgoing centre manager [[Paul Morrison]] of Mitie, which runs the centre, as mounting to over £900,000, but she nevertheless had to take the high cost into account in deciding the sentence.”		Farid Pardiaz, the young man who started the Campsfield fire, was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court to 32 months in prison after pleading guilty to committing arson. Judge Mowat acknowledged that his reasons for doing so stemmed in part at least from they way his asylum claim was being treated: “Mr Pardiaz appeared to have had mixed motives for setting light to bedding in his room, from which fire spread into the roof space of Blue Block at the centre. He had wished both to kill himself and also to show the authorities how strongly he felt that he should not be returned to Afghanistan, where he feared for his life.” The judge, “accepted that Mr Pardiaz had not meant to cause the damage and losses estimated by outgoing centre manager [[Paul Morrison]] of Mitie, which runs the centre, as mounting to over £900,000, but she nevertheless had to take the high cost into account in deciding the sentence.”

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 Early in 1994, ten Algerians (including one woman) staged a successful hunger strike at Campsfield and were released.<ref>'[https://vimeo.com/34956247 Tasting Freedom, 1994]', ''Migrant Media'', accessed 15 October 2015</ref> Following this, 180 out of 200 detainees at Campsfield went on hunger strike. Several of them gained access to the roof and communicated with demonstrators outside the centre. This sparked hunger strikes at other centres and prisons. In March, detainees at Campsfield protest on the roof. The authorities reacted by moving 15 so called ring leaders from Campsfield to Winson Green, Bullingdon and Blakenhurst prisons. Some were put in segregation cells and two were put on suicide watch in bare cells. All of the 'ringleaders' ended up in hospital and were not released from detention. The last hunger striker stops after 41 days.<ref>'[https://closecampsfield.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/campsfieldmonitormay2002.pdf Campsfield Monitor, May 2002]', ''Campaign to Close Campsfield'', accessed 15 October 2015</ref>
-In June, there was an uprising at Campsfield following the deportation of former hunger strike Ali Tamarat without any warning, despite previous assurances by the immigration staff. Detainees protest on the roof and several escape. <ref>'http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/6/newsid_2499000/2499099.stm BBC]', ''Asylum seekers flee detention centre'', accessed 26 November 2015</ref> Riot police moved 22 detainees to prison, and at least five detainees are injured.
+In June, there was an uprising at Campsfield following the deportation of former hunger strike Ali Tamarat without any warning, despite previous assurances by the immigration staff. Detainees protest on the roof and several escape. <ref>'[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/6/newsid_2499000/2499099.stm BBC]', ''Asylum seekers flee detention centre'', accessed 26 November 2015</ref> Riot police moved 22 detainees to prison, and at least five detainees are injured.
 [[Image:Campsfield-roof-protest-oxford-indymedia.jpg|400px|center|thumb|'''Rooftop protest at beginning of mass hunger strike, 1994 (Oxford Indymedia)''']]

@@ Line 134: / Line 134: @@
 The 'investigation' omits mention of how many officers entered the Segregation Unit. The detainee put the figure at eight, which surely begs the question of what else they were doing besides 'controlling' the detainee, and rather supports his allegations of a violent assault. He was then left in the cell for four hours, before being moved to the high-security Colnbrook detention centre.
-====2014 hunger strike====
+====2014 expansion plan and hunger strike====
-The fire brigade's advice was finally accepted and sprinklers were installed at Campsfield. But it would not receive planning permission until late April, meaning migrants continued to be detained in a building that was manifestly unsafe. And this did not prevent Home Office officials from deciding to increase the capacity of Campsfield from the present 260 to 510 beds, according to Bill MacKeith.
+The fire brigade's advice was finally accepted and sprinklers were installed at Campsfield. But it would not receive planning permission until late April, meaning migrants continued to be detained in a building that was manifestly unsafe. Furthermore, the Home Office announced that it planned to double the capacity of Campsfield.
 Farid Pardiaz, the young man who started the Campsfield fire, was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court to 32 months in prison after pleading guilty to committing arson. Judge Mowat acknowledged that his reasons for doing so stemmed in part at least from they way his asylum claim was being treated: “Mr Pardiaz appeared to have had mixed motives for setting light to bedding in his room, from which fire spread into the roof space of Blue Block at the centre. He had wished both to kill himself and also to show the authorities how strongly he felt that he should not be returned to Afghanistan, where he feared for his life.” The judge, “accepted that Mr Pardiaz had not meant to cause the damage and losses estimated by outgoing centre manager [[Paul Morrison]] of Mitie, which runs the centre, as mounting to over £900,000, but she nevertheless had to take the high cost into account in deciding the sentence.”
@@ Line 146: / Line 146: @@
 When this hunger strike started, supporters gathered outside Campsfield. Acting Centre Manager [[Andrew Simpson]] came out to keep an eye on them. Simpson had spent over twenty years in the Prison Service, where he specialised in riot control.
 ==Notes==

@@ Line 62: / Line 62: @@
 ====2000 protests====
-[[Image:Campsfield-detainees-protest-17 9 2000.png|700px|center|thumb|'''Detainees at Campsfield protest, 17 September 2000 (Campaign to Close Campsfield)''']]
+[[Image:Campsfield-detainees-protest-17 9 2000.png|700px|center|thumb|'''Detainees at Campsfield protest, 17 September 2000 (Stalingrad O'Neill)''']]
 ====2001 fire====

@@ Line 102: / Line 102: @@
 A detainee from Congo Brazzaville slits his throat after being on hunger strike for nine days. Some unrest in Campsfield follows.
-====2010====
+====2010 Iraqi Kurds escape====
 A detainee attempted suicide in March. 147 detainees go on hunger strike over abuse, long detention and mental health problems in August. Iraqi Kurds, Ahmed Hussein Saeed