Yvette Cooper’s plans to reopen immigration detention centre opposed by Labour-led council

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Louise Thomas

Editor

Home secretary Yvette Cooper’s plans to reopen a controversial immigration centre have been formally opposed by the local council.

Ms Cooper is pressing ahead with plans announced by the Conservatives to reopen Campsfield and Haslar Immigration Removal Centres as part of a push to achieve the highest rate of removals since 2018.

Campsfield House, near Kidlington in Oxfordshire, was closed in 2019 and its reopening has been opposed by migrant charities and local MPs.

Now Oxford City Council, which is run by a minority Labour administration, has passed a motion expressing their opposition to the plans.

The motion, which was moved on Monday evening, declared that the council had a proud history of welcoming refugees and opposed detention.

Councillors agreed that the plans “represent a worrying indication as to the government’s intended direction of travel, one which is incompatible with the promise this city has made to stand up for the rights of those seeking sanctuary”.

They also called for more safe and legal routes for refugees to claim asylum and for the Labour government to take a more “humane” approach to immigration policy. They will be writing to the government to express their opposition.

The motion is not binding on the Home Office and ministers can push ahead despite the local opposition from Labour councillors.

The plans have also been widely condemned by charities, with Refugee Council CEO Enver Solomon reacting to Ms Cooper’s announcement saying: “Instead of wasting taxpayers’ money on expanding detention places, the government should be investing in what are called voluntary returns programmes.

“If you treat people with respect, humanity and support them to return, many more people return.”

Immigration centres have been plagued by scandal and a 2016 independent review of detention questioned whether there is actually a correlation between the number of people in detention and the number of successful removals from the UK.

One inquiry into another removal centre, called Brook House, found that there was a “toxic culture” among staff at the site and “credible evidence” of breaches of human rights law, such as inhuman or degrading treatment.

The report called for an introduction of a 28-day time limit for people to be held at removal sites.

Campsfield House was partly destroyed by a fire that broke out in 2013, prompting the relocation of 150 people and two men needing to be treated for smoke inhalation.

A number of asylum seekers also took their own lives while the site was operational.

The Home Office has been contacted for comment.