Students join protest outside re-opened Campsfield House

CW: Suicide 

Students from the University of Oxford society Student Action For Refugees (STAR) today joined a protest outside Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, calling for its closure. 

The protest, comprising around 40 people, was divided into two groups: one demonstrating on the road outside the Campsfield House site, and one standing just outside the IRC gates on the site grounds. Protesters held banners reading ‘Immigration detention: what a cruel invention’, and chanted “shame on you” at police arriving at the scene.

Passing cars were heard honking their horns in support of protestors standing on the side of the road. As the demonstration wore on, the second group returned to the road following pressure from police officers.

The protest was organised by the Coalition to Close Campsfield (CCC). The group was founded by Oxford STAR and the asylum seekers’ charity Asylum Welcome, and holds similar demonstrations at Campsfield every month calling for the facility’s closure.

A CCC spokesperson told Cherwell: “Campsfield has a long history of resistance from detainees and local people, including faith groups, trade unions and students. We do not accept detention as a normal or necessary part of the asylum system. We believe our city and county should be a place of welcome and safety, not a site of incarceration for people seeking protection.”

Campsfield House became an IRC in 1993, and ran for 25 years before being closed down in 2018 by the Conservative Government. Boris Johnson’s government announced in 2022 that the site would reopen, and the Labour government invested £70 million in refurbishing the IRC before it reopened in December last year.

A protester at the scene told Cherwell: “I’m here standing in solidarity with the detainees inside Campsfield House. We want everyone inside to know that they are not alone – that we will continue to show up for them. And for those of us outside on the street, we want the community to know that Campsfield has reopened and that they should come stand with us.”

The CCC has highlighted repeated hunger strikes between 1994 and 2012 by detainees, often in protest of their indefinite detention, as well as the deaths by suicide of two inmates in 2005 and 2011. Prior to the initial closure of the site in 2019, a report by HM Inspectorate for Prisons noted that 42% of detainees reported feeling unsafe. An earlier report from 2015 noted that a 16 year old child was detained for 62 days from 2012 to 2013, with torture survivors also being held in violation of contemporary Home Office regulations. 

The campaigners also called for the UK government to scrap its “One-In-One-Out” asylum agreement with France. Under the deal, one asylum seeker is permitted to travel legally to the UK in exchange for one person, typically someone who arrived via boat, being forcibly returned to France. 

A CCC spokesperson told Cherwell: “The ‘One in, one out’ scheme treats people seeking asylum as units to be exchanged rather than as human beings with rights and individual protection needs. It has been condemned by the UN and is being challenged in the courts.” 

A group of 16 migrants recently launched a challenge in the High Court to halt deportations under the policy. Since the policy was announced, campaigners have highlighted several cases of children being illegally detained and threatened with deportation.

The site is managed on behalf of the Home Office by the private company Mitie, which also manages IRCs at Heathrow and Dungavel in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Mitie is the largest provider of immigration detention management for the Home Office, with responsibility for over 1650 detainees. Mitie first took over management of Campsfield in 2011, and received a new contract to manage the reopened site in 2025. 

A spokesperson for Oxford STAR told Cherwell: “Detention is an inhumane way of treating those seeking safety and shelter from persecution, yet the Labour government has chosen to double down on this policy, even offering the license to run Campsfield to the same contractors, Mitie, as last time.”

A Mitie spokesperson told Cherwell: “Our colleagues are committed to upholding the highest standards of dignity, safety, and respect for those in our care. At Campsfield, our experienced team is focused on creating a safe and supportive environment for all.” 

The Home Office has been approached for comment.