On July 1st, Right to Remain hosted an online meeting to discuss urgent plans to oppose the expansion of Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre in Oxford. The Coalition to Close Campsfield and Right to Remain are working together to make a submission to the ongoing consultation process – and urging everyone to do the same. Anyone – individuals and organisations – can make a submission. 

The harms caused by detention are well-documented. And we were fortunate to hear first-hand accounts of such harms at the meeting. These Walls Must Fall campaigner Teresa shared our community’s experience of deep trauma, fear and anxiety among everyone who has been detained, even after they are released. “Detention is cruel and unnecessary, it has a lasting and harmful impact on people who are seeking refuge, most of whom are from Black and Global Majority backgrounds.”

Beyond the pains and struggles of our community, Teresa stressed the importance of campaigns to close detention centres and end detention altogether. She has participated in such campaigns herself and has traveled to support friends detained in Manchester and other areas in England. Campaigns not only raise awareness about the injustice of detention, they also show those who are detained that they are not forgotten. “Detention shows that some lives are worth more than others. We deserve compassion and dignity.”

There are many substantive grounds to object to the expansion of the facility and to demand its permanent closure.

Please get in touch with Right to Remain Public Legal Education Officer ally[AT]righttoremain.org.uk if you have any questions about making a submission. Take action by July 24th!