One Down ... Ten To Go

Today see the closure of Oakington detention centre. Opened in 2000 as a temporary so-called fast track facility, it was due to close in 2006 but the government prevaricated on this in the same way as the Coalition is dragging its heels over the continued detention of children. Many who passed through the ex-RAF barracks claimed that it was a shit-hole to put it mildly and the Prisons Inspectorate roundly condemned conditions there in its 2008 inspection report. Unfortunately, its closure comes too late for Eliud Nyenze, a Kenya national who died on 14 April this year after being refused mediacl assistance by the detention centre's G4S guards.