Protesters have rallied against an ‘inhumane’ immigration detention centre amid plans to double its size.
Campsfield Immigration Centre, situated on the outskirts of the small Oxfordshire town of Kidlington, can currently house up to 160 migrants.
However, the Home Office has put forward a proposal to increase its capacity so it can house 400 people at a time.
The immigration centre previously closed in 2018 following a review of detainees’ welfare and years of protest, including hunger strikes. It then reopened in December last year.
Both Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council opposed the reopening and, this weekend, angry protesters gathered outside Campsfield to make their opposition to the expansion.
The Government also wants to reopen and expand Haslar Immigration Detention Centre in Gosport, Hampshire, so it can house 600 foreign criminals and illegal migrants.
Liz Peretz, who was one of around 20 protesters at Campsfield on Saturday, said: ‘It’s heartening to see people of all ages and all walks of life saying locking up people is never the answer.
‘We are especially concerned about the Immigration Removal Centre Expansion programme, here and in Gosport, which we think fails the Prime Minister Andy Burnham‘s test.’
An architect’s impression of the newly enlarged Campsfield Immigration Centre in Kidlington, Oxfordshire
A colour-coded version of the illustration, showing the role of each building
Protesters outside Campsfield this weekend after the Home Office put forward controversial plans to more than double the number of inmates
Ms Peretz added that during his campaign in the Makerfield by-election, the Prime Minister had promised to let local people decide.
In the case of Campsfield, local politicians, councils and trade unions have all come out against the proposal to expand the site.
She said: ‘This practice of incarceration of migrants, who are seeking asylum, whose visas have run out, or who have finished a criminal sentence already, is inhuman.
‘There are plenty of alternatives – we need to get on and use them.’
In around 250 objections to the expansion from neighbouring residents, workers, councils, MPs, human rights advocates and campaign groups, there were repeated calls for the plan to come to an inquiry to ensure ‘proper scrutiny’.
Plans to expand Campsfield are going through the Crown Development route, which effectively bypasses the local planning authority due to their ‘national importance’.
But, in a letter sent to those who made written representations on the plans, the Crown Development case team at the Government’s planning inspectorate confirmed a public inquiry will be held.
The letter said: ‘The application has generated considerable local interest; some of the issues raised are complex and the evidence would benefit from formal cross-examination.’
It continued: ‘The date, time and venue fixed for the holding of the inquiry will be published on the application website in due course.’
An inquiry is a court-like legal process used to evaluate major controversial development plans.
It is the most formal of procedures which could be used to authorise or refuse plans.
Government guidance states it will be ‘open to the public and provides for the investigation into, and formal testing of, evidence, usually through cross-examination of expert witnesses and other witnesses’ and that ‘parties may be formally represented by advocates’.
The site – pictured – can currently house up to 160 migrants but is set to be dramatically expanded
Haslar Immigration Detention Centre in Gosport, Hampshire closed a decade ago but is set to be reopened and enlarged to house 600 illegal migrants over three storeys
The Crown Development route is also being used at Haslar Immigration Detention Centre in Gosport, which closed a decade ago but is set to be reopened and enlarged.
Zoe Huggins, the leader of Gosport Borough Council, has criticised the move and written to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to demand a role in the planning process.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, she called for the proposal to be put to an open inquiry, which would allow local residents to have their say on the scheme.
‘Our message is straightforward: give us an open inquiry, publish as much of the evidence as possible with unnecessary redactions removed, and establish a community liaison panel so residents have a meaningful voice,’ she said.
‘If the Government believes this expansion application stands up to scrutiny, it should not fear greater openness, transparency and scrutiny.
‘The Council letter [to Ms Mahmood] is about the Crown Development process, not the planning merit and ensuring local voices are heard. Gosport is not asking for special treatment; we are asking for full and proper scrutiny.’
The newly expanded facility will have 600 beds provided for the detained men, who will be unable to leave the centre or access the local area. The biggest immigration removal centre in Europe is Harmondsworth near Heathrow, which has a capacity of 676.
Both Haslar and Campsfield will be used to hold foreign criminals and immigration offenders awaiting deportation. Plans to expand them were proposed by the Conservatives but are being carried out by Labour at an estimated cost of around £399million.
New Home Office figures released last week show there are 21,294 foreign national offenders were living free in Britain in the year to June 2026, up from 18,993 a year earlier.
The increase was blamed on the impact of Labour’s Sentencing Act, which has seen thousands of criminals released early as part of efforts to combat prison overcrowding.
The number of foreign criminals awaiting deportation stood at 17,677 at the time of the General Election in 2024.
Nick Timothy MP, Shadow Justice Secretary, said: ‘Foreign criminals living in the community should be deported. We warned there would be grave consequences to Labour’s Sentencing Act, and here is yet another one rearing its head.
‘The next Conservative Government will leave the ECHR so that we can remove all foreign criminals.’
The figures also revealed the number of asylum seekers living outside hotels has exceeded 73,000.
The Home Office said 73,068 asylum seekers were living in ‘non-hotel’ accommodation – such as shared homes, flats or military bases – in the year to June 2026, up 3 per cent on the previous year.
Ministers are continuing to move migrants out of hotels, with the number housed in them falling by 50 per cent to 16,021, the lowest figure since 2022. The total had previously reached 56,018 at the end of September 2023.
The Mail has approached the Home Office for a comment.
