‘All these centres should be closed down, there should be no immigration controls,’ Teresa Hayter of the Campaign to Close Campsfield told News Line yesterday.
She was commenting on the mass escape from the Campsfield House immigration detention centre near Kidlington in Oxford on Saturday night.
Yesterday 14 people were still being hunted by police after 26 escaped from the centre run by US company GEO after a fire was started.
Hayter told News Line: ‘A huge number got out on Saturday night.
‘There was a number of problems on Tuesday and on Friday some stayed out in the yard.
‘There was a hunger strike on Wednesday.
‘Their demands were that they should not be detained, that they were being detained illegally.
‘They had a meeting with Home Office officials at the centre on Friday which did not satisfy them.
‘They were discussing what to do next when a fire was started in the kitchen.
‘The riot squad were called in and they were evacuated outside the buildings where they managed to force open one of the gates.
‘After the escape, there was another fire and people were held out in the open until 7am.
‘They did not get any hot drinks until 11.30am.’
Hayter added: ‘What is particularly bad is people are detained without trial or judicial oversight.
‘They are not charged with or suspected of any crime.
‘Also there is no time limit for immigration detentions.
‘And the government targets removals and deportations, meaning ever more people are suffering.’
A helicopter, police dogs and a large number of officers are searching for the escapees.
Last Tuesday night more than 150 men stayed outside in protest till 3am. Half a dozen stayed out all night.
The Campaign to Close Campsfield said detainees have listed their grievances as including ‘worsening conditions in the centre, incredibly high bail-refusal rates at the new Newport Immigration “court”.
‘And the sheer shock and outrage felt by the growing numbers of men inside who have been designated “foreign criminals”.
‘These are often men who have lived in Britain for years, and who have families that now face destitution.
‘Typically they have committed very minor (e.g. driving) offences, for which they have already been punished, or have been caught out by one of the new “immigration crimes”, like arriving in the UK with incorrect or no travel documents.
‘British prisons fail to meet many standards of decency, but Campsfield and the other IRCs (Immigration Removal Centres) are “far, far worse” according to detainees who have experienced both.’