Your world is the limit – the borders of Campsfield are your borders.” He talks of the casual, built-in racism of the system. “How could I abscond?” he asks, “I’ve nowhere to go.”Paul, an Angolan recently released from Campsfield, argues that the detention centre is intended to be as depressing as possible “It’s harder than at home They’re trying to kill you bit by bit. “If you don’t kill, you are killed.” He argues that if his case were being considered while he was living outside, then he would feel more like a human being. Sylvia’s uncle recently told her: “Come back – even if it is to die. Better to die at home than to be in prison there.” Critics believe that the official policy-makers would regard that as a kind of success: it would unambiguously convey the message that the UK is not a welcoming destination.Hakim, a former Algerian policeman, talks of the political violence in his home country that is now encouraged by the authorities themselves, and which persuaded him to leave.

She is convinced that she would be a target if she returned.Complainers are routinely punished. Newly released detainees, and those still at Campsfield, say that asking questions immediately gets you moved from the relative comfort of Campsfield into a conventional prison. The riot in August began with a trivial spark: the transfer to prison of a detainee who had complained that inmates were not allowed to watch television. “Every day they abuse you and swear at you,” says a recently released inmate.Many at Campsfield give the impression that the spirit has been beaten out of them.

Sylvia comes from Ogoniland in Nigeria – the native region of the writer Ken Saro-Wiwa, executed amidst international protests in 1995 Sylvia’s parents were both the victims of political murder Her sister was raped, and she was attacked. The political context is clear: several members of the family were active in an Ogoni movement which displeased the authorities. Sylvia, who was studying information technology, describes the events in a deliberately steady voice, with only an occasional tremor She now needs constant medical treatment, related to stress. In reality, one important purpose seems to be merely to discourage others – at a weekly cost of hundreds of pounds per person.

From the Home Office’s point of view, the more asylum-seekers who can be persuaded that Britain is not a pleasant place to be, the better.For some, the risk of returning home is considerable. And yet, the repeated frisking of all visitors and the long list of prohibited items (cigarettes and phonecards are among the few items that you are allowed to bring in) are just one reminder that the treatment of Campsfield detainees would be little different if they were drug-smugglers or thieves.Officially, the inmates of Campsfield (which opened as a detention centre in 1993) are behind bars because they are perceived as being at risk of absconding. But according to detainees’ accounts, the riot was the culmination of a series of provocations by the guards.Whatever the truth of the events behind this summer’s riots, it is clear that the purpose-built detention centre – a two-storey red-brick building, tucked away along a quiet Oxfordshire country road – does little to suggest that foreigners might be welcome The 200 inmates have committed no crimes. According to the official version, the “premeditated” riot showed the violent tendencies of the inmates. Odd, too, that African asylum-seekers say they are told: “This isn’t a black country”, when they ask for an explanation of why they are being held behind bars.Campsfield briefly found itself back in the headlines earlier this year when inmates rioted. This includes the commitment to be “courteous, impartial, and free of racial bias”.Curious, then, that “fuck you” is a form of address frequently used by the private security guards, when answering detainees’ questions.