Detainees continue hunger strike

Campsfield House houses people who are waiting for deportation

Detainees at an immigration removal centre are continuing their hunger strike over living conditions.

At least 15 people are refusing food at Campsfield House, near Oxford.

The strike is being led a group of Iraqi Kurds protesting at the threat of being deported back to Iraq, where they say their lives will be at risk.

The UK Border Agency has said it is committed to its policy of removing people who have no legal basis to stay in Britain.

'Treated like criminals'

The BBC has learned just under 15 detainees refused their prepared meals on Friday.

A UK Border Agency spokesperson said: "A small group of detainees at Campsfield have refused their meals over the past few days.

"The situation is under control and we are discussing with detainees their concerns."

Earlier, the Iraqi Kurds said in a statement that they were on hunger strike because they were being treated like criminals, and separated from their families.

Detainee Fazzel Abdul Ahmed said he knew of one man who had been deported from the UK and had shot himself the following day.

Mr Ahmed also said it was "very important for us" that the government allowed the courts to examine the detainees' cases again, because Iraq was "the most dangerous country in the world".

There has been a long campaign to close Campsfield House, where there have previously been riots.

Eight men are still on the run after they started a fire and escaped from the centre in August of last year.