Voices in Exile reacted quickly to the announcement to reopen Haslar and Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centres, signing the following joint statement, which you can read in full:
Dear Rt Hon Yvette Cooper,
We are writing to you as local residents of Gosport and Oxfordshire, people with experience of detention, visitor groups to detention, organisations working with people in detention, academics, and others with an expressed concern at the announcement to continue with the plans made under the previous Conservative government to reopen Haslar and Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs).
We urge you to abandon these plans.
Our asks
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1. Reduce the Immigration Detention estate
We reject the narrative that detention is necessary or justifiable. It is well recognised – through the testimonies of people detained, in academic research, through public and statutory inquiries into detention, amongst national and international human right mechanisms and in evidence from NGOs working in immigration detention – that detention has a profound impact on people’s mental and physical health, with effects lasting far beyond the time spent detained. The removal of someone’s liberty as part of an administrative process – without knowledge of a release date – has been described by people detained as “mental torture”. Detention significantly increases the risk of self-harm and suicide – 57 people have died in immigration detention in England and Wales since 2000, 31 of these by suicide. We call for a decisive reduction of the immigration detention estate. No human should be incarcerated for administrative convenience.
The announcement to re-open Haslar and Campsfield IRCs is with the stated intent of increasing immigration enforcement and returns. We welcome the recognition in the Home Secretary’s announcement that this must take into account the vital lessons from Windrush. It is our concern that these aims are deeply conflicted. A broken system, rooted in hostile environment policies, is failing countless individuals in detention, just as it did the Windrush generation. Tellingly, the most recent Home Office pilot for “Alternatives to Detention” delivered by the King’s Arms Project found that 80% of participants – people at risk of detention – were presented with viable options to regularise their immigration status in the UK when provided with adequate legal advice and support in the community. Increasing the use of detention is not the solution to the complex reasons which result in people arriving to the UK via unsafe routes or being unable to regularise their immigration status.
Under the previous Conservative government, the plans to re-open these centres were explicitly linked to the intention to send people seeking asylum to Rwanda. We are greatly relieved that the Labour government has brought an end to the Rwanda Offshoring plans. However, the chaos and suffering of the 220 people detained for removal to Rwanda, without cause, demands urgent reflection. Sadly, this was not an isolated incident. Over the years, immigration detention has been used without accountability, with the majority of people detained, only to be released into UK communities, where they rightfully belong, but at devastating cost to their lives.
2. Review and Implement the Brook House Inquiry Recommendations
The Brook House Inquiry report (2023) found 19 instances with credible evidence of acts or omissions that were capable of amounting to mistreatment contrary to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In the inquiry, clear links were found between systemic failures of safeguards, an institutional culture of disbelief, indifference and racism amongst staff, and a system which prioritised enforcement and removal at all costs. These findings are not isolated to Brook House IRC or the period April-August 2017. The IMB annual report for 2023 in Brook House IRC found trends including: safety has deteriorated throughout 2023 and concurrently the use of force doubled as compared to 2022; there is a continued failure to properly use Rule 35; and evidence suggesting staff culture and burnout. Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), who visit people in Colnbrook and Harmondsworth IRCs, held a focus group and interviews with people recently detained in centres across the UK and found concerning parallels with the Brook House Inquiry report, including the use of segregation to manage mental health concerns; deficiencies in both healthcare provision and safeguarding, and the inappropriate use of force. This has been echoed by the HM Inspectorate of Prisons, which found all eight seven (correction made by AVID 11.10.24) IRCs in the UK to have serious failings in their most recent reports. The inspection report of Harmondsworth IRC found a catalogue of failures, including dilapidated buildings, shortage of experienced staff, overcrowding, and 48% of people surveyed reported feeling suicidal whilst in the centre.
3. Uphold Values of Fairness and Humanity
We invite the Home Secretary to take heed of the Windrush review’s recommendation to centre values of fairness, humanity, openness, diversity and inclusion. We state with conviction that the plans to expand detention are out of step with these values. The closure of Haslar and Campsfield IRCs in 2015 and 2019, respectively, was a victory for human rights. It marked a shift toward a more humane immigration system, supported by the recommendations from the Shaw Reviews on the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons and a series of High Court rulings prior that immigration detention had amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment contrary to Article 3. To re-open these centres is to disregard past lessons. Prior to their closure, Haslar and Campsfield IRCs had a troubled history of abuse and neglect. In 2008, following a media report of extensive allegations of abuse in detention centres, a report from Medical Justice detailed instances of alleged assault in Campsfield IRC and in Haslar IRC. This included, amongst other highly distressing accounts, the experience of a man detained in Haslar IRC in 2003 who, after a suicide attempt, was placed in isolation through the use of force. Around this time, a freedom of information request revealed 52 self-harm incidents in Haslar IRC in 2004/5 and a further 52 incidents in Campsfield during the same period. In 2010, almost half of the people detained in Campsfield IRC went on hunger strike, stating that they were refusing food indefinitely “for our voices to be heard”. Ramazan Kumluca, an 18-year-old seeking asylum, and Ianos Dragutan, aged 35, both committed suicide whilst detained in Campsfield IRC in 2005 and in 2011. This heightened questions and concern amongst local community members who – in both Gosport and Oxford – were distressed by what was happening on their doorstep. They took practical steps to visit people in detention and offer their support.
The government should follow the example set by these communities, who have committed to humanity, compassion and community. Their message is clear: detention is not the answer, change the narrative and change the direction.
4. Invest in community-based alternatives
The government should prioritise community-based alternatives to detention alongside wider steps to fix our broken asylum system and address the root issues at the heart of our immigration system. The UNHCR’s independent review of the two Home Office pilots demonstrated increased engagement with the immigration system and personal stability, and participants were treated fairly and with dignity. There was no evidence that the pilots reduced compliance with the immigration system and public funds were more effectively channelled through civil society organisations, at significantly lower costs, rather than private contractors. Alternatives to detention align with international standards, such as the Global Compact for Migration, of which the UK is a signatory. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when large numbers of people were released from detention, the UN Network on Migration Working Group on Alternatives To Detention stated that this presented:
“a unique opportunity to look beyond the current crisis and showcase concretely how migration can be governed without resorting to detention, as envisioned by the framework for action provided by the Global Compact for Migration, including in its Objective 13.
States, United Nations entities, civil society organisations and other actors are encouraged to redouble their collaborative efforts to phase out the use of immigration detention – building on steps forward taken during the pandemic, documenting the positive impact of alternatives, reflecting on lessons learned, and ending as a matter of priority the detention of children, families and other migrants in vulnerable situations.”
The previous Conservative government failed to take this opportunity. We urge you not to do the same.
5. One simple ask
If you can’t meet our other critical demands, at the very least, we leave you with one simple ask: speak to people who have experienced detention. Any decision to expand detention must be accountable to the experiences of people directly affected. Their voices should be the compass guiding any choices about this deeply flawed system.
SIGNATORIES (representing over 50 organisations and 85 signatories in total)
- Dr Chris Wooff, ACAP (Ashton Churches Asylum Project)
- Aderonke Apata, African Rainbow Family
- Maya Esslemont, After Exploitation
- Gee Manoharan, Association of Visitors to Immigration Detainees (AVID)
- Miranda Reilly, Association of Visitors to Immigration Detainees (AVID)
- Ewan Roberts. Asylum Link Merseyside
- Nathan Phillips, Asylum Matters
- Emma Jones, Asylum Welcome
- Bail For Immigration Detainees (BID)
- Sam Price, Beyond Detention
- Border Criminologies
- Eleanor Brown, CARAS
- Charlotte Khan, Care4Calais
- Steve Smith, Care4Calais
- Sian Summers-Rees, City of Sanctuary UK
- Coalition to Keep Campsfield Closed
- Detention Action
- Jonathan Ellis, Detention Forum
- End Deportations Belfast
- Freed Voices
- Maddie Harris, Humans for Rights Network
- Michelle Ezeuko, Irukka
- Yasmin Halima, JCWI
- Jesuit Refugee Service UK
- Alison Bell (Co-Chair), Lewes Organisation in Support of Refugees and Asylum Seekers (LOSRAS)
- G. Tipping, LOSRAS
- Jean Gould, LOSRAS Prison Visitor Project
- Manchester Immigration Detainee Support Team
- Aderonke Apata, Manchester Migrant Solidarity
- Mazzy Dee, Mazzy Dee’s Empowerment Network
- Sebastian Rocca, Micro Rainbow CIC
- Lara Parizotto, Migrant Democracy Project
- Bridget Young (Director) NACCOM
- Lia Deyal, No Detention, No Haslar
- Mike Brown, No Detention, No Haslar
- Oxford Against Immigration Detention
- Oxford and District Trades Union Council
- Bridget Banda, Play for progress
- Natalia Byer, POMOC
- Leila Zadeh, Rainbow Migration
- Rachael Bee, Refugee welcome homes
- Mia Hasenson-Gross, Rene Cassin
- Abbas Ali, Resistance Kitchen
- Michael Collins , Right to Remain
- Kay Marsh, Samphire
- Kate Alexander, Scottish Detainee Visitors
- Keisha Gould, Scottish Detainee Visitors
- Ronnie Tagwireyi, Scottish Detainee Visitors
- Mary Munro, Scottish Detainee Visitors (vice chair)
- Noku Sunduza, Seka Candles
- Nikki Walters, Southampton Action
- Mark Courtice, Southampton and Winchester Visitors Group (SWVG)
- Anna Lilley, Stand up to Racism South Coast
- Emily Crowley (Chief Executive), Student Action for Refugees (STAR)
- The Bike Project
- Dania Thomas, Ubuntu Women Shelter
- Jackie Lederer, Unite Community Portsmouth and District Branch
- Dr Charles Leddy-Owen, University of Portsmouth
- Dr Tom Sykes, University of Portsmouth
- Rebecca Hamlet, University of Portsmouth
- Claudia Bradshaw, University of Portsmouth
- Nicodemus Awai, University of Portsmouth
- Mel Steel, Voices in Exile
- Sonja Miley, Waging Peace
- Women for Refugee Women
- Paola Uccellari (CEO), Young Roots
- Clara Della Croce
- Dr Sarah Anderson (former visitor to detainees at Campsfield House)
- MT Talensby
- Catherine McCartney
- Sally Jones
- Jan Probert
- Malcolm Little
- Emily Barnes
- Courtney Thomas
- Kate Smart
- Laura Robbie
- Sheila Curran
- Stephanie Lewis
- Amy Hurley Dugdale
- Peter Cotton
- Natalia Byer (Local Resident)
- Joanna Knight
- Zoe Gardner
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Co-ordinated By: The Association for Visitors to Immigration Detainees (AVID), Coalition To Keep Campsfield Closed and Border Criminologies.
Organisations List: Asylum Welcome, Beyond Detention, Detention Action, Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) UK, Lewes Organisation in Support of Refugees and Asylum Seekers (LOSRAS), Manchester Immigration Detainee Support Team, Scottish Detainee Visitors, Waging Peace, Women for Refugee Women (WFRW), The No Accommodation Network (NACCOM), Rainbow Migration, Detention Forum, Asylum Matters, Portsmouth City of Sanctuary, No to Haslar, South Winchester Visitor Group (SWVG), Right To Remain, Ashton Churches Asylum Project (ACAP), African Rainbow Family, After Exploitation, Asylum Link Merseyside, Community Action for Refugees & Asylum Seekers (CARAS), Care4Calais, City of Sanctuary UK, End Deportations Belfast, Humans for Rights Network, Joint Council for Welfare for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI), Manchester Migrant Solidarity (Manchester MiSol), Micro Rainbow, Migrant Democracy Project, Oxford Against Immigration Detention, Oxford and District Trades Union Council, Play for Progress, Polish Migrants Organise for Change (POMOC), Refugee Welcome Homes, Rene Cassin, Resistance Kitchen, Samphire, Seka Candles, Southampton Action, Stand up to Racism South Coast, Student Action for Refugees (STAR),Ubuntu Women’s Shelter, Unite Community Portsmouth and District Branch, University of Portsmouth, Voices in Exile, Young Roots, The Bike Project, Freed Voices, Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID), Mazzy Dee’s Empowerment Network.