BID Condemns Reopening of Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre
As we mobilise to provide urgent legal advice at Campsfield House, we call for an immediate halt to the expansion of immigration detention.
We believe that the Government has reopened Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre, reversing its 2018 closure after years of public outcry and evidence of systemic harm. People are expected to be detained on the site from Wednesday.
Immigration detention is harmful and traumatising. People are detained for indefinite periods of time, causing severe distress, self-harm, and suicide attempts. The reopening of Campsfield House will put more people at risk of harm.
We are deeply concerned that this is part of a wider trend to expand detention and increase deportations from the UK while reducing due process and appeal rights. This risks the detention and exile of more people with valid claims to remain in the UK.
Research shows that most people in detention do not have access to the legal advice they need to challenge their detention or apply for bail and that people are routinely denied their rights.
Given this evidence, we are deeply concerned this centre will widen the injustice of detention leaving even more people without a fair chance to apply for bail and defend their right to stay in the UK.
It is for this reason our team are currently mobilising to provide legal advice to people detained at the centre. Donations to support this work can be made here.
Campsfield House IRC was closed in 2018 as part of the previous Conservative Government’s commitment to reduce the detention estate by 40%. These reforms were announced in response to Stephen Shaw’s review into the welfare of vulnerable people in detention, and promised to “to lead to a reduction in the number of those detained, and the duration of detention before removal, in turn improving the welfare of those detained.”
Mitie, which ran the site before its closure, has been re-awarded a £140 million contract to run Campsfield House despite repeated allegations of racism by its staff, and conditions at its detention facilities described by the Chief Inspector of Prisons as “chaotic” “shocking", “dangerous” and “the worst in the country”.
Expanding the detention estate will lock up more people for longer, separate more families, and allow private companies to profit from this suffering.
It is also a profound waste of public resources at a time when investment is urgently needed in public services such as schools and the NHS.
Local communities, campaigners, and rights organisations have consistently opposed the site through the Keep Campsfield Closed Coalition. We stand with them in demanding that the Government immediately stop the reopening of Campsfield House.
Help us mobilise to provide urgent legal advice:
For the next seven days, donations to Bail for Immigration Detainees will be doubled.
That means every £1 you give becomes £2. Your donation could:
- £5 → £10: Send outreach packs to four people, including practical information about applying for bail and template letters.
- £10 → £20: Provide an expert interpreter for a 30-minute call to our advice line.
- £25 → £50: Fund a return train ticket so we can deliver an in-person legal advice workshop at a detention centre
- £60 → £120: Cover the telephone costs for our advice line for a week which answers over 8,000 calls a year from people in detention.
- £100 → £200: Fund expert legal research and advice for one complex case, helping a family stay together.
- £250 → £500: Just three of these donations could fund a life-changing expert report that safeguards a child by evidencing why their parent should not be deported.
Charlotte Buckley, BID’s Director said:
“We are appalled by the Government’s decision to reopen Campsfield House. The site was closed in 2018 as part of the Conservative Government’s response to a review evidencing the widespread harm of detention. Its reopening represents a striking shift in policy, based on no change in evidence. On the contrary, the horrors of detention remain the same. All evidence continues to demonstrate the severe harm that detention causes, including trauma, self-harm, and mental health crises. It also disregards the strong and sustained opposition from local communities, campaigners, and rights organisations who have repeatedly raised serious concerns about the impact of detention.”
