Gosport immigration removal centre is 'mental torture', says campaigner

Campaigner Mike Brown said the centre would be "mental torture" for people sent there

An immigration removal centre (IRC) has been described as "mental torture" for those housed in it.

Haslar IRC, in Gosport, is the second facility to be reopened in a government plan "tackling illegal immigration".

Campaigner Mike Brown said the centre would be "mental torture" for people in it, even if the building were improved.

The Home Office said it has seen an increased need for the accommodation, adding that the facility would be safe, secure and fit for purpose.

The government announced its plans to refurbish Haslar IRC in September, after it had been closed for almost eight years.

It followed the news that Campsfield House in Kidlington, Oxfordshire would be reopened.

Mr Brown said detention centres do not work as "85% of people who are detained actually get released"

Mr Brown, a member of campaign group No Detention No Haslar, said immigration detention is "immoral" and a "shocking waste of taxpayer money".

He said he believed detaining people was "not the solution in any case" and that removal centres do not work as "85% of people who are detained actually get released".

The campaigner said he was a former chairman of Haslar Visitors Group until it closed and told the BBC: "Even if the conditions were better than they were, it's still mental torture.

"Once you're detained, you don't know how long you're going to be there."

The Home Office said the number of people arriving in the UK needing accommodation was at record levels

The Home Office said: "The number of people arriving in the UK who require accommodation has reached record levels due to the unacceptable rise in small boat arrivals and our commitment to accommodate those from Afghanistan."

It said the daily hotel bill for more 45,500 asylum seekers and more than 9,200 Afghans was £6.8m, adding that the public "expect that we reduce these costs as quickly as possible".

Haslar IRC is intended to house 600 men and would not open until the end of 2023 at the earliest, the Home Office added.