Iraqi Kurds on Hunger Strike at Campsfield Detention Centre 9th August

Press Release from the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees:

Fazzel Abdul reported to IFIR that On 9 August at 5pm 13 Kurdish asylum seekers detained at Campsfield detention centre started a hunger strike. To protest at their continuing detention.

Fazzel Abdul reported that Kawa one of the asylum seekers had collapsed earlier today (11 August 08). A doctor was called, but Kawa was not treated and is continuing the hunger strike.

Fazzel said we are calling:
1. to be released from the detention centre
2. to stop the policy of forcibly deporting Iraqi Kurds
Fazzel said 50 other asylum seekers from around the world also detained in Campsfield have joined the hunger strike today.

For further information contact Fazzel 07743 697993

IFIR and CSD Iraq asks that Human and refugee rights campaigners support the hunger strikers

International Federation of Iraqi Refugees
Coalition to Stop Deportations to Iraq
11 August 2008

IFIR:PO.BOX1575,Ilford, London, IG1 3BZ Tel:0044 7856032991

Dikili No-Border Camp 2008

Here is a link to the English call-out for the Dikili No-Border Camp on 3rd - 7th September at Alder Beach, Dikili-Izmir, Turkey:

Homeless earthlings’ camp at the border

Police immigration detention cells "squalid and unfit"

A joint report by the Chief Inspector of Prisons and the Inspector of Constabulary has condemned suite of 13 cells in Southwark, south-east London, unhygienic, unsafe and unfit for use. The inspectors found that some of the cells had congealed blood and human waste on their walls and recommended that the facility should be closed until the fundamental concerns were remedied. The report also said that the problems at Southwark arose from the fact that the UK Border Agency contracted the facility from the Metropolitan police, yet failed to provide any oversight to ensure acceptable conditions. [See:]

Australia ends detention regime for asylum seekers

Almost seven years after Australia sent commandos onto the MV Tampa to block the Afghans migrants on board from reaching the mainland after the fishing vessel sank in international waters, the government has said it will now abandon it's controversial policy of jailing all asylum seekers.

Chris Evans, Immigration Minister of the centre-left Labour government, said detention in often-remote immigration jails would now be used only as a last resort. "Desperate people are not deterred by the threat of harsh detention. They are often fleeing much worse circumstances."

The ending of ex-prime minister John Howard's so-called "Pacific Solution", under which asylum seekers were sent to special detention centres in the Papua New Guinea island of Manus and the tiny Pacific state of Nauru, had been a pledge in last year's election.

UK No Borders Network Newsletter 4 Out

The fourth newsletter of the UK No Borders network is out now and should be available for download soon from here.

Migrant Criminals A Myth

According to a report submitted by two chief constables to the home secretary, there is no evidence to indicate that the recent expansion of the EU and consequent immigration of Eastern Europeans has lead to any sort of increase in crime. The report points to an increase in tensions in communities that have received new migrants as the cause of the myth of immigrant criminals but has found no evidence to actually support it.
The full story can be found here.

Harmondsworth Prisoners Organise

116 Harmondsworth prisoners have signed a petition calling out the Home Office for (from the petition):

1. Turning a blind eye to overwhelming evidence that purports to strenghten our cases.
2.Not allowing sufficient time in preparation of our cases; with a view of making us frustrated and succumbing to removal/ deportation.
3.Maliciously misrepresenting and miscopying the facts of our cases, for the purpose of making it easy for the Judges to arrive at sinister and unjustifiable decisions.
4.Providing us with legal representatives who are more interested in soliciting our deportations, than foiling them.

Riot police entered the detention centre and appear to be dispersing prisoners to other Immigration Removal Prisons to break the organisation. Other details are sparse.