Campsfield House
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Campsfield House was an immigration detention centre located in Kidlington near Oxford, England, operated by private prison firm Group 4 under contract with the British government. It was the site of a number of protests from human rights campaigners and saw a number of hunger strikes and one suicide. However, it was highly praised by the Chief Inspector of Prisons at the last full inspection in 2014. It closed in 2018.[1]
History
Campsfield House used to be a youth detention centre, but it re-opened as an Immigration Detention Centre in November 1993. It originally had 200 places for both male and female prisoners, however in 1997, capacity was reduced to 184 and the prison became male only. The capacity rose to 282 bed spaces in 2017.[2] Over 3600 people passed through the centre in 2017, with an average stay of 39 days.[2]
Although the detainee population initially consisted of asylum seekers, from June 2006 government policy saw the population change to mainly (an average of 80%) former HMP prisoners.
Until 2011, Campsfield was run by the American private prison company GEO Group. Campsfield House was their first European contract. In 2011 operations at the facility were turned over to Mitie Group PLC.[3] Mitie's contract for Campsfield House expired in June 2019.[2]
Conditions
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Detainees at Campsfield House were held behind a 20-foot-high (6.1 m) razor wire–topped fence. Throughout the centre there were surveillance cameras, and friends and relatives wishing to visit detainees were searched before passing through five separate remote-controlled doors. Detainees were allowed the use of mobile phones. Security of the centre was maintained by large perimeter fences, but within the establishment detainees were relatively free to roam. As opposed to cells, detainees had two or three man rooms and communal shower and toilet facilities. There were around fifteen single rooms. The doors to rooms were never locked, however the gates to the three accommodation blocks were locked between midnight and six in the morning. Detainees were free to move around the blocks during this time. This relatively relaxed regime, coupled with the new influx of ex-HMP prisoners led to difficulty in maintaining discipline at Campsfield.
Inspection
Like all Immigration Removal Centres, Campsfield House was regularly inspected by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons. The last full inspection was in 2014. The Chief Inspector reported: 'This was the latest in a sequence of positive reports about the centre, all of which have found consistent improvement.... Overall, this was a very positive inspection. Staff and managers at Campsfield House should be congratulated in dealing professionally and sensitively with detainees”.[4]
Controversy
Hunger strikes
On 22 June 2005, a group of six Zimbabwean asylum seekers went on hunger strike for three days.
In August 2008, 13 Iraqi Kurds went on hunger strike and were joined by a number of others.[5]
On 3 August 2010, over 100 detainees went on hunger strike in protest at being held for up to three years with "no prospect of removal or any evidence of future release".[6]
Suicide
On 27 June 2005, Campsfield detainee Ramazan Komluca committed suicide. The 19-year-old from Turkey had been detained for about 6 months, and had made three unsuccessful bail applications.
Fires and disturbances
In March 2007, there was a riot at the centre after staff used force to remove a detainee from his room.[7]
On 14 June 2008, a series of small fires broke out at the centre. 10 fire engines, 12 police vehicles and a police helicopter were dispatched to the centre, and a police cordon set up, at the request of the UK Border Agency, to secure the perimeter which was not believed to have been breached.[8]
On 18 October 2013, the centre was damaged by fire. A detainee, Farid Pardiaz, was convicted of arson at Oxford Crown Court and was jailed for 32 months.[9]
Opposition to Campsfield House
The initial establishment of an immigration detention centre at Campsfield House was opposed by the local parish council, however they were overruled by the Home Office. The Campaign to Close Campsfield held monthly demonstrations outside the premises, using the slogan 'Asylum seekers are not criminals'. They also published the Campsfield Monitor which gave detainees accounts of what is happening inside the centre.[10]
In the 2010 General Election, Aaron Barschak ran as an independent candidate in the Witney constituency against David Cameron to highlight the plight of asylum seekers and the treatment of people in Campsfield House.[11] At the count he wore a sign around his neck which read "Close Campsfield House". He won 53 votes.
References
- ^ "Campsfield House immigration detention centre closes". BBC News. 14 December 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
- ^ a b c "Annual Report of the Independent Monitoring Board at Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre for reporting year 2017" (PDF). Independent Monitoring Board. May 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
- ^ "'Care & Custody': Mitie's detention centre contracts". Corporate Watch. Archived from the original on 13 February 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
- ^ HM Inspectorate of Prisons (2015), 'Report of an announced inspection of Campsfield House IRC, 11–21 August 2014
- ^ Detainees go on hunger strike at Oxfordshire immigration centre Archived February 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Hunger strike at immigration centre - Yahoo! News UK". uk.news.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on August 6, 2010.
- ^ Nine hurt in asylum centre riot BBC, 14 March 2007 Archived March 24, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Crews sent to immigration centre BBC, 14 June 2008
- ^ Campsfield House immigration centre fire: Man jailed for arson BBC, 2 April 2014
- ^ "Students Against Campsfield". Archived from the original on 2011-10-07. Retrieved 2008-06-14.
- ^ "Barschaks Bid to Unseat Dave". Archived from the original on 2010-05-07. Retrieved 2010-04-29.
Further reading
- Mass escape from detention centre BBC 5 August 2007. "Police arrested 12 of the detainees shortly after the mass escape. ... Police are looking for [another] 14 asylum seekers who escaped from a detention centre after a fire was started there."
- Campsfield's troubled history BBC, 6 August 2007, "There has been a long campaign to close Campsfield House. ... The escape of 26 detainees from Campsfield House in Oxfordshire is the latest in a series of disturbances to hit the immigration removals centre."