Uprising at Campsfield immigration prison
On 14 March guards at Campsfield Detention Centre tried to drag an Algerian detainee from his room to deport him. Other detainees tried to prevent this and a revolt ensued. Thirty-five police officers and a dozen prison officers carrying shields were sent into Campsfield in response. According to Immigration Minister Liam Byrne, 60 of the 200 detainees at Campsfield have now been transferred to other detention centres.
Tragedy and resistance in Scotland
On 7 March Uddhav Bhandari doused himself in petrol and set himself alight at the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal in Glasgow’s Bothwell Street. The father of two fled Nepal six years ago but was facing a second immigration hearing which could have led to him being sent back. He died on 19 March, the latest victim of the Home Office’s brutal asylum and immigration policy.
On the very day Uddhav set himself on fire, 80 asylum seekers and supporters demonstrated against the recent deportations to DRC outside
the same building. Militant speeches condemned British and French imperialism for pouring arms into Africa and making ceaseless wars, while at the same time attacking the people forced to flee from these conflicts.
FRFI 196 April / May 2007
