Early in the morning of 14 March, an Algerian detainee held in Campsfield immigration prison in Oxfordshire forcefully resisted an attempted 'removal' by the immigration authorities. Fellow detainees then tried to intervene in solidarity and a riot soon spread in the detention centre, with facilities smashed and set on fire. 2 detainees and 7 staff were taken into hospital, all suffering smoke inhalation. In addition to emergency services, Tornado units (riot squads) from the Prison Service were deployed to deal with the 'disturbances'.

Our friend Kirk Mwesigwa, 21 years old, was re-detained when signing last Thursday at Eton House and given removal directions for Monday the 5th March. He was assaulted and beaten during the removal attempt and is back in Colnbrook, threatened with another removal. Kirk is a volunteer with our detainee support network, and has been very active helping others in his same situation, both when he was detained - he spent 8 months in detention - and after his release, during the short time he was free and his life seemed to get back together.

Alphonsus Uche Okafor-Mefor is presently being held in a detention centre, and is due to be flown back this Thursday 1 March to Nigeria where he has previously been detained and tortured. Alphonsus has a background as a trade unionist and political activist and is a leading figure in the group Asylum voice who have campaigned against the abuses suffered by asylum seekers. He was due to speak at the forthcoming 'No One Is Illegal' Trade Union Conference. He will be in imminent danger if deported.

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