Campsfield House, originally built as a prison, closed in 2018 after 25 years of detaining individuals without trial, often in inhumane and harmful conditions. The government now plans to reopen many detention centres, including Campsfield House

As a local group, we support both the Keep Campsfield Closed petition and contacting local MPS to urge for action on this issue.

Suggested letter to MP – adapted from Central England Network Resources

Dear ____________,

I am writing to express my deep concern about the government’s plans regarding immigration detention, including the decision to reopen immigration detention centres. As a resident of the West Midlands, I am particularly concerned about Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre in Oxfordshire.

As you may know, Campsfield closed in 2018 after 25 years of detaining individuals without trial, often in inhumane and harmful conditions.

Reopening Campsfield would mean imprisoning up to four hundred people, some of whom may be vulnerable survivors of torture or trafficking, without a time limit or proper judicial oversight. This is particularly alarming given the findings of the Brook House inquiry, which revealed the devastating impact of immigration detention on detainees mental and physical health. Campsfield itself has a harrowing history, including numerous hunger strikes, a serious fire, and two tragic suicides.

The UK is a signatory of the Refugee Convention and has committed to protect the rights of refugees. However, the continued use of administrative detention undermines these obligations.

In addition to its inherent cruelty, evidence indicates that immigration detention is an ineffective and costly means of resolving immigration cases.

Between 2023 and 2024, over half of those detained in the UK were subsequently released on immigration bail, casting significant doubt on the justification for their initial detention. Additionally, the UK government has paid out at least £21 million over a five-year period due to unlawful detentions, highlighting systemic issues within the detention process.

I urge you, as my elected representative, to oppose the reopening of Campsfield House IRC and to advocate for policies that prioritise humanity and fairness in the immigration system. We need compassionate and effective alternatives that uphold human dignity and respect human rights.

Thank you for your attention to this critical issue. 

I look forward to your response.  

Yours sincerely,

(full name and address)

Birmingham MPS

• Edgbaston - Preet Gill (Labour and Co-operative Party) preet.gill.mp@parliament.uk
• Erdington - Paulette Hamilton (Labour) paulette.hamilton.mp@parliament.uk
• Hall Green and Moseley - Tahir Ali (Labour) tahir.ali.mp@parliament.uk
• Hodge Hill and Solihull North - Liam Byrne (Labour) liam.byrne.mp@parliament.uk
• Ladywood - Shabana Mahmood (Labour) shabana.mahmood.mp@parliament.uk
• Northfield - Laurence Turner (Labour) laurence.turner.mp@parliament.uk
• Perry Barr - Ayoub Khan (Independent)  ayoub.khan.mp@parliament.uk
• Selly Oak - Al Carns (Labour) al.carns.mp@parliament.uk
• Sutton Coldfield - Andrew Mitchell (Conservative) andrew.mitchell.mp@parliament.uk

When emailing your local MP you must include:

• Clear email subject line
• Your full address and postcode after ‘yours sincerely’. This shows that you are in their constituency, therefore a legitimate correspondent with them.

Write to your MP at House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA

by Bella (co-secretary B12, B13, B14) with thanks to central England Network ACEN refugee and asylum seeker campaign team

References

 The image of Campsfield house is from Google Maps.

https://www.celebrating-sanctuary.org.uk/about

https://keepcampsfieldclosed.uk

https://www.change.org/p/keep-campsfield-house-detention-centre-closed?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=custom_url&recruited_by_id=4184bbe0-98d4-11ed-a8dc-d5f718774050

https://www.amnesty.org.uk/resources/matter-routine-use-immigration-detention-uk-0