Protesters oppose immigration centre reopening

A protest has been held outside an Oxfordshire immigration removal centre that is set to reopen under government plans.

Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre is due to reopen later this year, after closing in 2018 following riots, escapes and complaints about conditions.

Along with protesters, the plans have been opposed by MPs, residents and charities, as well as Oxford City Council.

A Home Office spokesperson said the centre, near Oxford Airport, will boost "our immigration detention capacity to support a higher pace of removals".

Emma Jones, speaking on behalf of the protest group Coalition to Keep Campsfield Closed, said the centre was an "appalling" place, and that the plans were "devastating to so many people in Oxfordshire".

"We are here in solidarity with people who are detained simply because of their immigration status, not because of any crime they've committed," she said.

The plans to reopen Campsfield, she said, are "a huge worry" to people who care about human rights.

Ms Jones said: "The people of Oxfordshire have made their voices clear, and will continue to do so, that refugees are welcome here. This is meant to be a city of sanctuary. Campsfield is the opposite of sanctuary."

The government has said the centre will initially provide 160 beds and then up to 400 following a £70m expansion, and will be used to accommodate "a mixture of time-served foreign national offenders and immigration offenders while we prepare to remove them from the UK".

A Home Office spokesperson said: "Opening Campsfield Immigration Removal Centre will boost our immigration detention capacity to support a higher pace of removals.

"We are committed to ramping up returns activity and removing those with no right to be here, with more than 35,000 people returned this year."