Once again, detainees at Campsfield are on hunger strike. The hunger strike began this morning (7th May) with the simple demand to close all immigration detention centres in the United Kingdom. Detainees believe their detention is a breach of their human rights. More than 50 detainees are partaking, which includes many nationalities including several Arabic speaking countries as well as Chinese.
Hunger striker Musawar Khan said: 'All of our friends want medias support. Authorities do not want to listen to us. Thankyou.'
On Friday (2 May) over 150 detainees in Harmondsworth migrant prison near Heathrow airport occupied the main courtyard in a sit down protest and began a mass hunger strike. Their demands can be read here . . . . :
Yesterday (Tuesday 6 May) in Colnbrook detention centre, right next to Harmondsworth, guards broke up an organising meeting of 40 detainees and put five 'ringleaders' in isolation cells, before moving them to another secure facility. Supporters have since been unable to contact the men.
Then at 10pm last (Tuesday) night a group of 20 men detained at Brook House IRC near Gatwick staged a protest in the courtyard and refused to return to their cells.
Nothing Has Changed In The 20 Years Since Campsfield Opened:
16.04.98: Sir David Ramsbotham, chief inspector of prisons, publishes his report on Campsfield, which states that 'it is abundantly clear' that 'there is little or no consistency, or logic, in current arrangements for deciding upon detention' (§I-25).
17/4/98: 'Campsfield is an abomination to human rights in that it presumes guilt from the outset. Today those loyal protesters who have been branded as cranks and soft-centred do-gooders have been proved right.' - From the Oxford Mail
Asylum detainees stage hunger strike over poor treatment
The Home Office is facing open revolt at its notorious Harmondsworth detention centre, after more than 100 detainees staged a hunger strike in protest against rules that leave them locked up while their asylum applications are processed.
The privately run centre near Heathrow airport in west London, which holds 615 people, has faced repeated criticism about poor treatment of detainees, with a recent inspection report highlighting "shocking cases where a sense of humanity was lost".
On Friday more than 100 detainees co-ordinated to stage a demonstration inside the facility's central courtyard, threatening to starve themselves amid growing anger about the application of the Government's fast-track asylum rules.
Friday's demonstration is understood to have been sparked by a broken fax machine, out of commission for several days - which many detainees were relying on to lodge their appeals.
The protesters decided to suspend their hunger strike over the weekend after Home Office officials agreed to meet a delegation of detainees, but it could be resumed if their concerns are not met.
One detainee told The Independent: "If we are stuck in a detention centre without a working fax machine or internet access, how can we be expected to get the necessary proof needed to challenge decisions?" Read more: Kunal Dutta, Indpendent, 04/05/14