This piece is written for Unlocking Detention by ‘Jose’ of the Freed Voices group (the author’s name has been altered to protect their identity). 'Jose' was detained in Campsfield detention centre. Before I went to detention, I had posters of musicians on my wall. No revolutionaries, or civil rights leaders or anything like that. I think I maybe had a ‘Banksy in [...]
About the Author: Melanie Griffiths is a former COMPAS DPhil student and is currently an ESRC Future Research Leaders Fellow and Senior Research Associate at the School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, University of Bristol. She is leading the 'Detention, Deportability and the Family: Migrant Men’s Negotiations of the Right to Respect for Family Life' project, examining the family lives [...]
This week, Unlocking Detention shone a spotlight on Campsfield House detention centre in Kidlington, a village 7 miles from Oxford. Up to 282 men are locked up there. Campsfield House was originally a young offender’s institution and became an immigration detention centre in 1993. https://twitter.com/DetentionForum/status/799929715930857472 https://twitter.com/AsylumWelcome/status/798071101821714432 https://twitter.com/AsylumWelcome/status/798072693786550272 https://twitter.com/MIDdetention/status/799639720066248705 https://twitter.com/DetentionForum/status/800282541462880257 https://twitter.com/DetentionForum/status/798943724965363712 https://twitter.com/liviels/status/799385982927769600 https://twitter.com/DetentionForum/status/800002948617093120 https://twitter.com/t1sander/status/799542863864483841 https://twitter.com/DetentionForum/status/798141685020688385 The first piece published this week was a powerful [...]
This week Unlocking Detention has been ‘visiting’ Campsfield detention centre, run by Mitie, the largest single private provider of detention services to the Home Office. (In a first for our regular live Q&As) on Friday afternoon, Ben from Detention Action conducted a live Twitter Q&A with two friends currently detained in Campsfield - Christopher and Jose. You can recap the whole interview below: https://twitter.com/DetentionForum/status/799625012420444160 [...]
By Liz Peretz, Campaign to Close Campsfield Trigger warning: self-harm, suicide People held in immigration detention centres are among the most vulnerable people in our society. Many detainees have suffered torture or ill treatment, have significant and chronic health problems, or have been detained for prolonged periods of time without any prospect of removal. Furthermore, they are powerless and may fear [...]
Now over half-way through Unlocking Detention 2015, last week we virtually visited Campsfield House detention centre in Kidlington, near Oxford. https://twitter.com/GioFassetta/status/661618241710764033 Campsfield was originally a young offenders' institute but opened as a detention centre in 1993. It was the first detention centre opened in the UK, and originally held both men and women. https://twitter.com/DetentionForum/status/661882920815230976 https://twitter.com/DetentionForum/status/661970032625328129 https://twitter.com/DetentionForum/status/661105494258397185 Asylum Welcome, the local visitor's [...]
This piece was written by Melanie Griffiths, a trustee at Asylum Welcome. Asylum Welcome are a long-standing Oxford charity supporting men detained at Campsfield House. She is also a researcher based at the University of Bristol. Asylum Welcome is a small charity in Oxford with a wealth of experiencing supporting people in immigration detention. We have our roots in a community-led [...]
This piece was written for Unlocking Detention by William, from the Freed Voices group. William was detained in Campsfield Immigration Removal Centre for four days before he was transferred to another detention centre, where he was incarcerated for a further two months. He was released earlier this year following Detention Action’s litigation against the Detained Fast Track and was subsequently given [...]
This blog post was written by Bill MacKeith for Unlocking Detention. Bill is a founding member of the Campaign to Close Campsfield. This month marks the 22nd anniversary of the opening of Campsfield detention centre, an occasion that will marked on 28th November by something like the 248th demonstration calling for closure of a place where over the years over 30,000 [...]
Campsfield House is widely considered one of the 'better-run' IRCs and the last report by HMIP, the official inspection body, vouched for this. Most people detained there, who have experienced other IRCs, like Harmondsworth or Brook House, agree in my experience. But for all that, the effect of detention on people in Campsfield is still profoundly toxic. The fact that Campsfield [...]