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Voices in Exile reacted quickly to the announcement to reopen Haslar and Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centres, signing the following joint statement, which you can read in full:

Dear Rt Hon Yvette Cooper,

We are writing to you as local residents of Gosport and Oxfordshire, people with experience of detention, visitor groups to detention, organisations working with people in detention, academics, and others with an expressed concern at the announcement to continue with the plans made under the previous Conservative government to reopen Haslar and Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs).

We urge you to abandon these plans. 

1. Reduce the Immigration Detention estate

We reject the narrative that detention is necessary or justifiable. It is well recognised – through the testimonies of people detained, in academic research, through public and statutory inquiries into detention, amongst national and international human right mechanisms and in evidence from NGOs working in immigration detention – that detention has a profound impact on people’s mental and physical health, with effects lasting far beyond the time spent detained.  The removal of someone’s liberty as part of an administrative process – without knowledge of a release date – has been described by people detained as “mental torture”.  Detention significantly increases the risk of self-harm and suicide – 57 people have died in immigration detention in England and Wales since 2000, 31 of these by suicide. We call for a decisive reduction of the immigration detention estate. No human should be incarcerated for administrative convenience.

The announcement to re-open Haslar and Campsfield IRCs is with the stated intent of increasing immigration enforcement and returns. We welcome the recognition in the Home Secretary’s announcement that this must take into account the vital lessons from Windrush. It is our concern that these aims are deeply conflicted. A broken system, rooted in hostile environment policies, is failing countless individuals in detention, just as it did the Windrush generation. Tellingly, the most recent Home Office pilot for “Alternatives to Detention” delivered by the King’s Arms Project found that 80% of participants – people at risk of detention – were presented with viable options to regularise their immigration status in the UK when provided with adequate legal advice and support in the community. Increasing the use of detention is not the solution to the complex reasons which result in people arriving to the UK via unsafe routes or being unable to regularise their immigration status.

Under the previous Conservative government, the plans to re-open these centres were explicitly linked to the intention to send people seeking asylum to Rwanda. We are greatly relieved that the Labour government has brought an end to the Rwanda Offshoring plans. However, the chaos and suffering of the 220 people detained for removal to Rwanda, without cause, demands urgent reflection. Sadly, this was not an isolated incident. Over the years, immigration detention has been used without accountability, with the majority of people detained, only to be released into UK communities, where they rightfully belong, but at devastating cost to their lives. 

2. Review and Implement the Brook House Inquiry Recommendations

The Brook House Inquiry report (2023) found 19 instances with credible evidence of acts or omissions that were capable of amounting to mistreatment contrary to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In the inquiry, clear links were found between systemic failures of safeguards, an institutional culture of disbelief, indifference and racism amongst staff, and a system which prioritised enforcement and removal at all costs. These findings are not isolated to Brook House IRC or the period April-August 2017. The IMB annual report for 2023 in Brook House IRC found trends including: safety has deteriorated throughout 2023 and concurrently the use of force doubled as compared to 2022; there is a continued failure to properly use Rule 35; and evidence suggesting staff culture and burnout. Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), who visit people in Colnbrook and Harmondsworth IRCs, held a focus group and interviews with people recently detained in centres across the UK and found concerning parallels with the Brook House Inquiry report, including the use of segregation to manage mental health concerns; deficiencies in both healthcare provision and safeguarding, and the inappropriate use of force. This has been echoed by the HM Inspectorate of Prisons, which found all eight seven (correction made by AVID 11.10.24) IRCs in the UK to have serious failings in their most recent reports. The inspection report of Harmondsworth IRC found a catalogue of failures, including dilapidated buildings, shortage of experienced staff, overcrowding, and 48% of people surveyed reported feeling suicidal whilst in the centre. 

3. Uphold Values of Fairness and Humanity

We invite the Home Secretary to take heed of the Windrush review’s recommendation to centre values of fairness, humanity, openness, diversity and inclusion. We state with conviction that the plans to expand detention are out of step with these values. The closure of Haslar and Campsfield IRCs in 2015 and 2019, respectively, was a victory for human rights. It marked a shift toward a more humane immigration system, supported by the recommendations from the Shaw Reviews on the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons and a series of High Court rulings prior that immigration detention had amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment contrary to Article 3. To re-open these centres is to disregard past lessons. Prior to their closure, Haslar and Campsfield IRCs had a troubled history of abuse and neglect. In 2008, following a media report of extensive allegations of abuse in detention centres, a report from Medical Justice detailed instances of alleged assault in Campsfield IRC and in Haslar IRC. This included, amongst other highly distressing accounts, the experience of a man detained in Haslar IRC in 2003 who, after a suicide attempt, was placed in isolation through the use of force. Around this time, a freedom of information request revealed 52 self-harm incidents in Haslar IRC in 2004/5 and a further 52 incidents in Campsfield during the same period. In 2010, almost half of the people detained in Campsfield IRC went on hunger strike, stating that they were refusing food indefinitely “for our voices to be heard”. Ramazan Kumluca, an 18-year-old seeking asylum, and Ianos Dragutan, aged 35, both committed suicide whilst detained in Campsfield IRC in 2005 and in 2011. This heightened questions and concern amongst local community members who – in both Gosport and Oxford – were distressed by what was happening on their doorstep. They took practical steps to visit people in detention and offer their support. 

The government should follow the example set by these communities, who have committed to humanity, compassion and community. Their message is clear: detention is not the answer, change the narrative and change the direction.  

4. Invest in community-based alternatives

The government should prioritise community-based alternatives to detention alongside wider steps to fix our broken asylum system and address the root issues at the heart of our immigration system. The UNHCR’s independent review of the two Home Office pilots demonstrated increased engagement with the immigration system and personal stability, and participants were treated fairly and with dignity. There was no evidence that the pilots reduced compliance with the immigration system and public funds were more effectively channelled through civil society organisations, at significantly lower costs, rather  than private contractors. Alternatives to detention align with international standards, such as the Global Compact for Migration, of which the UK is a signatory. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when large numbers of people were released from detention, the UN Network on Migration Working Group on Alternatives To Detention stated that this presented: 

“a unique opportunity to look beyond the current crisis and showcase concretely how migration can be governed without resorting to detention, as envisioned by the framework for action provided by the Global Compact for Migration, including in its Objective 13. 

States, United Nations entities, civil society organisations and other actors are encouraged to redouble their collaborative efforts to phase out the use of immigration detention – building on steps forward taken during the pandemic, documenting the positive impact of alternatives, reflecting on lessons learned, and ending as a matter of priority the detention of children, families and other migrants in vulnerable situations.” 

The previous Conservative government failed to take this opportunity. We urge you not to do the same. 

5. One simple ask

If you can’t meet our other critical demands, at the very least, we leave you with one simple ask: speak to people who have experienced detention. Any decision to expand detention must be accountable to the experiences of people directly affected. Their voices should be the compass guiding any choices about this deeply flawed system.

SIGNATORIES (representing over 50 organisations and 85 signatories in total)

1. Dr Chris Wooff, ACAP (Ashton Churches Asylum Project)
2. Aderonke Apata, African Rainbow Family
3. Maya Esslemont, After Exploitation
4. Gee Manoharan, Association of Visitors to Immigration Detainees (AVID)
5. Miranda Reilly, Association of Visitors to Immigration Detainees (AVID)
6. Ewan Roberts. Asylum Link Merseyside
7. Nathan Phillips, Asylum Matters
8. Emma Jones, Asylum Welcome
9. Bail For Immigration Detainees (BID)
10. Sam Price, Beyond Detention
11. Border Criminologies
12. Eleanor Brown, CARAS
13. Charlotte Khan, Care4Calais
14. Steve Smith, Care4Calais
15. Sian Summers-Rees, City of Sanctuary UK
16. Coalition to Keep Campsfield Closed 
17. Detention Action 
18. Jonathan Ellis, Detention Forum
19. End Deportations Belfast
20. Freed Voices
21. Maddie Harris, Humans for Rights Network 
22. Michelle Ezeuko, Irukka
23. Yasmin Halima, JCWI
24. Jesuit Refugee Service UK
25. Alison Bell (Co-Chair), Lewes Organisation in Support of Refugees and Asylum Seekers (LOSRAS)
26. G. Tipping, LOSRAS
27. Jean Gould, LOSRAS Prison Visitor Project
28. Manchester Immigration Detainee Support Team 
29. Aderonke Apata, Manchester Migrant Solidarity
30. Mazzy Dee, Mazzy Dee’s Empowerment Network 
31. Sebastian Rocca, Micro Rainbow CIC
32. Lara Parizotto, Migrant Democracy Project
33. Bridget Young (Director) NACCOM
34. Lia Deyal, No Detention, No Haslar
35. Mike Brown, No Detention, No Haslar
36. Oxford Against Immigration Detention
37. Oxford and District Trades Union Council
38. Bridget Banda, Play for progress
39. Natalia Byer, POMOC
40. Leila Zadeh, Rainbow Migration
41. Rachael Bee, Refugee welcome homes
42. Mia Hasenson-Gross, Rene Cassin
43. Abbas Ali, Resistance Kitchen
44. Michael Collins , Right to Remain 
45. Kay Marsh, Samphire 
46. Kate Alexander, Scottish Detainee Visitors
47. Keisha Gould, Scottish Detainee Visitors
48. Ronnie Tagwireyi, Scottish Detainee Visitors 
49. Mary Munro, Scottish Detainee Visitors (vice chair)
50. Noku Sunduza, Seka Candles 
51. Nikki Walters, Southampton Action
52. Mark Courtice, Southampton and Winchester Visitors Group (SWVG) 
53. Anna Lilley, Stand up to Racism South Coast
54. Emily Crowley (Chief Executive), Student Action for Refugees (STAR)
55. The Bike Project
56. Dania Thomas, Ubuntu Women Shelter
57. Jackie Lederer, Unite Community Portsmouth and District Branch 
58. Dr Charles Leddy-Owen, University of Portsmouth
59. Dr Tom Sykes, University of Portsmouth
60. Rebecca Hamlet, University of Portsmouth
61. Claudia Bradshaw, University of Portsmouth
62. Nicodemus Awai, University of Portsmouth
63. Mel Steel, Voices in Exile
64. Sonja Miley, Waging Peace
65. Women for Refugee Women
66. Paola Uccellari (CEO), Young Roots
67. Clara Della Croce     
68. Dr Sarah Anderson (former visitor to detainees at Campsfield House)
69. MT Talensby 
70. Catherine McCartney  
71. Sally Jones   
72. Jan Probert   
73. Malcolm Little 
74. Emily Barnes
75. Courtney Thomas 
76. Kate Smart
77. Laura Robbie
78. Sheila Curran  
79. Stephanie Lewis       
80. Amy Hurley Dugdale
81. Peter Cotton
82. Natalia Byer (Local Resident)
83. Joanna Knight  
84. Zoe Gardner
85. Anonymous 
86. Anonymous      

Co-ordinated By: The Association for Visitors to Immigration Detainees (AVID), Coalition To Keep Campsfield Closed and Border Criminologies.

Organisations List: Asylum Welcome, Beyond Detention, Detention Action, Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) UK, Lewes Organisation in Support of Refugees and Asylum Seekers (LOSRAS), Manchester Immigration Detainee Support Team, Scottish Detainee Visitors, Waging Peace, Women for Refugee Women (WFRW), The No Accommodation Network (NACCOM), Rainbow Migration, Detention Forum, Asylum Matters, Portsmouth City of Sanctuary, No to Haslar, South Winchester Visitor Group (SWVG), Right To Remain, Ashton Churches Asylum Project (ACAP), African Rainbow Family, After Exploitation, Asylum Link Merseyside, Community Action for Refugees & Asylum Seekers (CARAS), Care4Calais, City of Sanctuary UK, End Deportations Belfast, Humans for Rights Network, Joint Council for Welfare for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI), Manchester Migrant Solidarity (Manchester MiSol), Micro Rainbow, Migrant Democracy Project, Oxford Against Immigration Detention, Oxford and District Trades Union Council, Play for Progress, Polish Migrants Organise for Change (POMOC), Refugee Welcome Homes, Rene Cassin, Resistance Kitchen, Samphire, Seka Candles, Southampton Action, Stand up to Racism South Coast, Student Action for Refugees (STAR),Ubuntu Women’s Shelter, Unite Community Portsmouth and District Branch, University of Portsmouth, Voices in Exile, Young Roots, The Bike Project, Freed Voices, Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID), Mazzy Dee’s Empowerment Network.

Over 100 frontline organisations providing advice to migrants and communities across the country today presented the Home Office with an open letter demanding accountability and an immediate shift in policy to prevent further far right riots.

The 104 signatories to the letter represent organisations that provide advice to migrants from every region in England, Scotland and Wales. Many were impacted by the recent wave of far-right violence and rioting, and had to close their doors or take security measures to safeguard their staff and clients. Over 10% of the signatories signed the letter anonymously, due to ongoing security concerns among organisations providing advice and support to migrants.

The letter, drafted by Haringey Migrant Support Centre (HMSC) and the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI), states: “Those occupying the great offices of State have a responsibility to break with divisive and dehumanising rhetoric, and to recognise the deep impact of anti-migrant rhetoric and policy on our communities.  

“When our major political parties engage in a race to the bottom on migration policy in order to win votes, the impact on communities is very real. 

“We saw crowds in Rotherham chanting ‘stop the boats’ and attempting to set alight an asylum hotel, knowing there were people seeking asylum inside. That the crowds were chanting a slogan and policy aim deployed by both the Conservatives and Labour in the run-up to the General Election, as well as by members of our Labour Government since, is a damning indictment of our politics, and its complicity in enabling and emboldening the far right.”

You can read the full letter below:

Re: Recent far right violence

Dear Home Secretary, 

We write to you as frontline organisations from across the UK that provide advice to migrants. Along with migrants, Muslims and People of Colour, we have been made the target of far-right violence. Our colleagues, many of whom experience Islamophobic, racist and anti-migrant violence, have also been targeted because of their work providing advice to people navigating the often-hostile immigration system. During the recent wave of far-right violence, many of us have been forced to close our offices and stop providing life-saving advice to safeguard our staff and the people we work with. Many of our clients continue to live in fear.  

We write to you in grief and horror at the scenes we have seen on our streets up and down the country, and everything that helped bring us to this point. We write to you calling for immediate action. Our communities are bearing the brunt of this racist violence, and the fear that comes with it. Those occupying the great offices of State have a responsibility to break with divisive and dehumanising rhetoric, and to recognise the deep impact of anti-migrant rhetoric and policy on our communities. 

When our major political parties engage in a race to the bottom on migration policy in order to win votes, the impact on communities is very real. We saw crowds in Rotherham chanting ‘stop the boats’ and attempting to set alight an asylum hotel, knowing there were people seeking asylum inside. That the crowds were chanting a slogan and policy aim deployed by both the Conservatives and Labour in the run-up to the General Election, as well as by members of our Labour Government since, is a damning indictment of our politics, and its complicity in enabling and emboldening the far right. 

The violence on our streets is an inevitable result of violent anti-migrant policies and rhetoric from people right at the top of our political system. Right now, we have policies in place that ask neighbours, employers, doctors and landlords to check the immigration status of people they interact with, and turn them over to the Home Office on even the suspicion that they don’t have the right piece of paper in their passport. Immigration raids intimidate, demonise and criminalise migrants, while detention centres impose further abuse and racist violence. Thousands of migrants are locked out of state support and forced into destitution, hardship and homelessness through ‘no recourse to public funds’ – a condition that has been ruled unlawful many times. These hostile immigration policies entrench and legitimise racism, turn communities against each other, and harm all of us.  

It’s clear to those whose lives are in the hands of the Home Office that the immigration system remains fundamentally racist and Islamophobic. We have a system that treats migrant workers as disposable, and allows the wealthy to travel freely while those without that privilege navigate dangerous journeys to cross borders. We have a system that, thankfully, reacted overnight to create real and accessible safe routes for people fleeing the conflict in Ukraine, while those fleeing the same in Afghanistan have had to live in hiding for months on end because of Home Office bureaucracy and suspicion.  

During this wave of violence, increased policing powers, disproportionately deployed to surveil and criminalise migrants and People of Colour, have not kept us safe. It has been our communities mobilising to protect each other and coming out to defend, care for and stand in solidarity with one another. 

What needs to change

The far right violence sweeping the country must be a wake-up call. The policy on migration, as well as the rhetoric, urgently needs to change. We must see urgent action to dismantle the hostile environment that divides our communities. We must never again hear politicians glorifying ‘stopping the boats’. Instead, we must ensure people can travel safely to the UK by establishing real and accessible safe routes, and enable people to live fulfilling lives once they arrive, whether they are seeking sanctuary, joining family or working. 

The Government must also urgently review asylum accommodation contracts and shift to resourcing local authorities to house people seeking asylum in communities. Conditions in hotels are abysmal and unsafe. In Rotherham, people who fled their asylum hotel to escape the threat of far right violence ended up sleeping in nearby woods, because the hotel manager failed to check on them. It’s clear that the private companies profiting from running asylum accommodation, and therefore the Home Office, are failing in their duty of care.  

It must also urgently overhaul the legal aid system and increase legal aid rates. Many of our services were already stretched to breaking point by years of underfunding of legal aid. Legal aid rates have not been increased since 1996. Cuts to the scope of legal aid and to rates of pay, particularly following the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO) 2012, have meant the number of advice agencies and law centres doing this work has fallen by 59% over the last decade. 39 million people do not have access to a local immigration and asylum legal provider across England and Wales. The Government must immediately review the legal aid system, and ensure that our frontline advice services can meet the needs of our communities and work sustainably to help people access justice. 

Recommendations

• Dismantle the hostile environment in its entirety
• Acknowledge and address the racist and exclusionary logic embedded in immigration policies and within the Home Office
• Urgently review asylum accommodation contracts, with a view to shifting away from outsourcing to for-profit companies, to resourcing local authorities to supply accommodation
• Shift the rhetoric and policy on asylum away from ‘stopping the boats,’ and institute genuine, accessible safe routes for people seeking protection
• Urgently review the immigration legal aid system, so that frontline advice organisations are properly resourced to provide access to justice

This wave of violence has had a horrifying impact on our communities. It must mark a turning point. We urge the government to heed the call from the communities most impacted, and from advice services like ours, and urgently change course. 

Yours faithfully,  

Haringey Migrant Support Centre

The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants

12 frontline advice organisations signing anonymously

African Rainbow Family

Anti Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit

ASSIST Sheffield

Asylum Justice (Wales)

Asylum Link Merseyside

Asylum Matters

BARA – Birmingham Asylum & Refuge Association

BARAC UK

Bradford Law Centre

Brent Council

Bristol Hospitality Network

Bristol Law Centre

Cambridge Convoy Refugee Action Group

Cambridge Refugee Resettlement Campaign

CARAS (Community Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers)

Care4Calais

Cheshire, Halton & Warrington Race & Equality Centre

Citizens Advice Bournemouth Christchurch & Poole

City of Sanctuary Sheffield

Compassion in politics

Connected Routes CIC

Cornwall Refugee Resource Network

Coventry Asylum & Refugee Action Group

Daaro youth project

East European Resource Centre

Evesham Vale Welcomes Refugees

Freedom United

Global Link

Govan Community Project

Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit

Greenwich Inclusion Project

Hackney Migrant Centre

Here for Good

Hope Projects

Horsforth Town of Sanctuary

Humans for Rights Network

Jennifer Irons

Jesuit Refugee Service UK

Justlife Foundation

Kanlungan Filipino Consortium

Latin American Women’s Rights Service (LAWRS)

Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network (LRMN)

MakeAmplify

Malvern Welcomes

Manchester Migrant Solidarity

Manchester Refugee Support Network

MARAG – Midlands Asylum & Refuge Action Group

Maryhill Integration Network

Middle Eastern Women and Society Organisation- MEWSO

Migrant Democracy Project

MIgrant Voice

Migrante Health Workers UK

NACCOM

New Citizen’s Gateway

Oasis church

Open Door North East

Praxis

Project 17

Refugee & Migrant Forum of Essex and London (RAMFEL)

Refugee Support Group

Refugees Welcome North Somerset

Right to Remain

Room to Heal

Safe Passage International

Shaman  PR

Shropshire Supports Refugees

Simon Community Scotland

South London Refugee Association

Southall Black Sisters

Southeast and East Asian Centre (SEEAC)

Southeast And East Asian Women’s Association (SEEAWA)

St Albans for Refugees

St Augustine’s Centre

St Chad’s Sanctuary

St Pauls Advice centre

Stand For All

Streetwise Young People’s Project

TGP Cymru

The William Gomes Podcast

the3million

Ubuntu Women Shelter

Voices in Exile

Waging Peace

Walking With in North Tyneside

Waltham Forest Migrant Action (WFMA)

Welsh Refugee Council

West London Welcome

Worcester City Welcomes Refugees

Homeless Link and NACCOM have have published a new policy briefing exploring the key drivers of, and potential solutions to, homelessness amongst migrants.

The briefing outlines the the key drivers of migrant homelessness and what policies the new Government should implement to create a society with a home for everyone. It is supported by over 70 organisations working in the fields of homelessness, housing, and migrants’ rights, from local grassroots charities to leading national organisations including Criss, Shelter,  the Refugee Council, and Refugee Action.

Homeless Link and NACCOM have written to the new Minister for Border Security and Asylum Anglea Eagle, sharing the briefing and requesting to work with the Home Office to reform the immigration and asylum system so it is no longer a direct cause of homelessness. Meanwhile, we will be sharing ways for our member organisations to support this work in the near future.

You can read more below:

https://homeless.org.uk/news/homeless-link-and-naccom-share-new-migrant-homelessness-briefing/

Today we join 300 orgs & 500+ people in calling on 10 Downing Street to urgently overhaul our broken asylum system. We need a new approach: one that protects people seeking safety, rather than punishing them for political gain. This letter was shared exclusively with The Guardian and you can read it below:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/jul/08/human-rights-groups-give-starmer-blueprint-for-asylum-overhaul

Words carry weight. They shape how migrants and refugees are treated in the UK. We’ve joined 35 other civil society groups in an open letter to all MP candidates.

We call on them to not use hateful language when talking about migrants and refugees. You can read this open letter below:

Everyone needs a safe place to live. But the immigration system pushes people into homelessness.

Voices in Exile joined over 100 organisations in signing this open letter, outlining solutions to create a home for everyone.

You can read this open letter below, coordinated with NACCOM and Homeless Link.

June 24_Migrant Homelessness open letter_Party leaders

Voices in Exile joined hundreds of charities in the call to free the Rwanda detainees, coordinated by Right to Remain. You can read more below:

Free the Rwanda detainees!

”On 29 April, the government started rounding up hundreds of people seeking asylum, taking them to detention centres for deportation to Rwanda. People have been locked up for over a month now, even though the Prime Minister announced that the cruel plan is paused, with no flights until after the election on July 4th.

And now, in a High Court hearing into a legal challenge brought by the FDA trade union for civil servants yesterday June 3rd, the Home Office revealed that there will be no flights to Rwanda until July 24th at the earliest.

All those people detained for Rwanda must be released, without delay.”

Voices in Exile joined the call  to free the Rwanda detainees by sharing the hashtags #StopRwanda and #FreeRwandaDetainees on social media alongside hundreds of other charities and individuals.