Oxford University students protest against immigration centre reopening

More than 140 students and staff from the University of Oxford have released a letter protesting against the reopening of an immigration centre.

The government plans to reopen Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre in Kidlington in mid-2024.

Demonstrators gathered in Oxford on Friday to object to the reopening.

The Home Office said the updated facility would ensure the “proper protection and treatment of vulnerable people”

The protesters said the letter had been written “to oppose the reopening of Campsfield House and to encourage the government to consider viable alternatives to immigration detention”.

During its time open, the centre saw hunger strikes, self-harm and the suicides of 19-year-old asylum seeker Ramazan Komluca in 2005 and Ianos Dragutan in 2011, before closing in 2018.

The government is planning to spend £227m on reopening Campsfield, which the group has called “a poor use of public resources” during the cost-of-living crisis.

The letter has been signed by three heads of Oxford colleges, the student union and prominent academics, including philosopher Amia Srinivasan and historian Timothy Garton Ash.

It reads: “Empirical evidence shows that immigration detention has immediate and long-term negative consequences on people’s medical and mental health”.

Layla Moran, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon said: “The government agreed to reduce the size of the detention estate five years ago, and they have given no clear explanation for this dramatic change in policy.”

She called the reopening a “cruel and wasteful proposal” and suggested the funds should be diverted instead to speeding up the processing of asylum claims.

A spokesperson said: “The government is committed to the removal of foreign criminals and those with no right to be in the UK.”