The Coalition to Keep Campsfield Closed and Oxford University Student Action for Refugees have organised a demonstration at Langford Lane (OX5 1RE) at noon on Saturday 25th November. Demonstrators will line the entrance to Campsfield House, the former detention centre that the government plans to refurbish and reopen.
Local campaigners are demanding that the Home Secretary and the Immigration Minister reconsider their expansion of the violent practice of immigration detention in the wake of the failed Rwanda plan.
“Asylum Welcome condemns the planned reopening of Campsfield House.
Having worked inside the old Campsfield for years, our staff, volunteers and supporters have seen the painful and damaging impact that this confinement has had on those unnecessarily incarcerated.
In an effective asylum system that handles cases in a timely and respectful way, there is no need to lock up people whose only crime is to seek sanctuary.
As an organisation, we are committed to opposing the reopening and we urge local residents, councils, and representatives to join us in our opposition.”
– Mark Goldring, Director, Asylum Welcome
When Boris Johnson introduced the Rwanda plan in 2022, he made a U-turn in Conservative government policy, which had previously been committed to reducing the number of people held in immigration in detention.
Now that the government has been forced to rethink their Rwanda plans, it only makes sense that they rethink their planned expansion of immigration detention facilities too.
We believe that immigration detention is not the answer to the arrival of people in the UK, regardless of how they get here. There are practical and more humane alternatives to detention that must be properly explored.
“As a University of Sanctuary, we believe that the University of Oxford has an obligation to uphold the values of inclusion, compassion, and solidarity. This means standing firmly against the re-opening of Campsfield, and other developments that threaten the safety, well-being, and dignity of vulnerable migrants. As students, we welcome migrants in our community, and stand in solidarity with their struggles against border violence and state oppression.”
– Juliet Van Gyseghem, President of STAR Oxford
The recent Brook House Inquiry revealed the extent of mistreatment faced by those in immigration detention in recent years. This form of violence is inevitable when people are detained in our community without trial, without time limit, and without proper judicial oversight.
