Razor wire at back of Campsfield immigration prison
Rooftop protest at beginning of mass hunger strike, 1994
Campsfield '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.
Last year Blunkett announced that Campsfield was 'outdated' and would be closed. The only possible reason was the level of protests, inside and outside Campsfield. Since then half of the big new immigration prison at Harmondsworth was closed down because the private security firm couldn't cope, and the government's other 'flagship', at Yarls Wood, was burnt down. Campsfield, we are now told, will stay open, and be expanded to 290 places.
The Campaign to Close Campsfield was set up ten years ago when Campsfield immigration prison was first opened. Since then we have had demonstrations outside Campsfield main gates and round the back from 12-2pm on the last Saturday of each month. This Saturday's demo will be the tenth anniversary one, with people coming from all over the country.
There are coaches from Birmingham, from London (phone 07903 162 175 to book) and from the centre of Oxford (St Giles, 11am) and buses 2b/c/d from Cornmarket to Spires Business Park. Also a bike ride for freedom (from Martyrs' Memorial, St Giles at 10am), and a protest afterwards at 3pm in Broad St in the centre of Oxford.
Music from the London-based Rhythms of Resistance and from the Oxford Sol Samba Band, speeches by former detainees and Bill Morris of the T&G, and lots of ingenuity to communicate with detainees over the 20ft fences.