Immigration detainees' march
01 November 1994
A four-day march to mark the first anniversary of the opening of Campsfield detention centre ended on 4 December with the handing in of a petition to Downing Street protesting at the inhuman rules and practices awaiting those claiming asylum in Britain. Over 650 asylum-seekers are detained every day and there are no statutory time limits on detention, so that some have been in detention for over a year. 129 of those currently detained have been in detention for over six months. Immigration minister Nicholas Baker admitted that it cost 21 million pounds per year to keep the asylum-seekers locked up. The percentage of asylum claimants allowed to remain in Britain, either as refugees or with exceptional leave to remain, has fallen from over 75% to around 20% in the fifteen months since the Asylum Act came into force.