Right to Remain will be speaking at the public inquiry against the expansion of Campsfield detention centre. We shared last week that JCWI and Asylum Matters are our lead endorsers. 

Right to Remain will be speaking at the public inquiry into the proposed expansion of Campsfield immigration removal centre, where we will be making the case against increasing detention capacity. Because this is a planning inquiry, our statement focuses on two key issues: whether the Home Office has demonstrated a need for 240 additional detention places at Campsfield, and the harm detention causes to people’s health, wellbeing and human rights.

Drawing on our own work and evidence from people who have experienced detention, alongside legal, medical, academic and community expertise, we’re making the strongest case we can. We aren’t planning experts, but we’re using every opportunity to challenge the expansion, amplify people’s voices and make as much noise as possible about the harm detention causes. You can also sign our petition here. 

We’ve been inviting other organisations and groups to add their support ahead of the inquiry, and the response has been incredible. A big thank you to the more than 40 groups and organisations who have endorsed our statement so far. 

We are still waiting for a new date for the Campsfield public inquiry following its postponement. Meanwhile, the public inquiry into the proposed expansion of Haslar immigration removal centre is due to begin on 17 November 2026. The Haslar inquiry is taking a different shape from Campsfield, and we will share more about our plans for engaging with it soon. 

Who’s endorsed our statement so far:

• Black Lives Matter UK
• City of Sanctuary UK
• Conversation Over Borders
• Corporate Watch
• Detention Action
• Medact
• Migrants’ Rights Network
• NACCOM 
• Refugees at Home
• Angels of Freedom
• ASSIST Sheffield
• Asylum Justice
• Birmingham Community Hosting Network
• Bradford Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Survivors Service
• Evesham Vale Welcomes Refugees
• forRefugees
• Green Party Asylum & Migration Policy Working Group
• Haringey Welcome
• Humans for Rights Network
• Journey LGBT Asylum Group
• Leeds Anti-Raids Action
• Manuel Bravo
• Maslaha
• Merseyside Solidarity Knows No Borders
• Migrant Democracy Project
• Migrant Futures Institute
• North Derbyshire Refugee Support Group
• Oasis Church 
• Positive Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers (PAFRAS)
• Resistance Kitchen
• Routes (Connected Routes CIC)
• Safety4Sisters
• Scottish Detainee Visitors
• South East Integration Network (Glasgow)
• Southampton and Winchester Visitors Group (SWVG)
• St Augustine’s Centre
• SYMAAG – South Yorkshire Migrant and Asylum Action Group
• The Channel Monitoring Project
• Transpire
• Voice of Voiceless Immigration Detainees Yorkshire (VVIDY)
• Waging Peace
• Waltham Forest Migrant Action

Why are groups and organisations endorsing our statement?

Groups and organisations across the UK have shared why they are supporting our objection to the expansion of Campsfield. From those working directly with people in detention to organisations supporting people in their communities, their messages reflect the many ways immigration detention causes harm, and why they believe expanding it is not the answer

James Wilson, Director of Detention Action, highlighted the human and systemic costs of indefinite detention:

“Indefinite detention causes enormous physical and mental harm to people in detention and contributes to the many barriers people face to accessing legal advice, resolving their immigration status or regaining their freedom.”

Scottish Detainee Visitors, which supports people detained at Dungavel immigration removal centre, described the harm it witnesses firsthand:

“We witness every week the harm detention causes to the people detained, their families and their communities. We are appalled at plans to expand Campsfield and share with others a concern that the need for it has not been demonstrated.”

Refugees at Home reflected on the lasting impact of detention, including after people return to their communities:

“Any feeling of safety is taken away and when we host people who have been detained they have to build their trust in others all over again. Detention is not the answer when other options are available.”

Safety4Sisters, which works alongside Black and minoritised migrant women who have experienced gender-based violence, highlighted how the fear of detention can prevent women from seeking safety and support:

“The fear of immigration detention often deters women from reporting or seeking support for domestic abuse, driving women to remain with perpetrators. Violence against women and girls cannot be detached from the hostile immigration system, which increases migrant women’s vulnerability to abuse and exploitation.”

These concerns are echoed by St Augustine’s Centre, which emphasised the importance of welcoming people seeking safety and upholding dignity, compassion and human rights. Angels of Freedom also expressed solidarity with communities opposing the expansion, reminding us that “Our communities are stronger when people are supported, not detained.”

Journey LGBT+ Asylum Group similarly called for migrants, refugees and people seeking asylum to be able to live with dignity, free from the fear of detention.

NACCOM, a network of over 140 organisations working to end homelessness and destitution, emphasised the importance of community-based support:

“It removes people from the safe accommodation, immigration advice and trusted relationships they need to engage with their cases and move forward with their lives. Many are then released with little notice into homelessness and destitution. Rather than expanding the detention estate, the government should invest in more humane alternatives such as community-based accommodation and support.”

PAFRAS also called for investment in community-based alternatives that protect people’s rights and allow them to live with dignity alongside family and friends.

Other organisations highlighted how detention forms part of a wider system of immigration enforcement and exclusion. Migrant Democracy Project described detention as “another manifestation of the hostile environment that criminalises people on the move”, highlighting how migrant residents have no say at the ballot box over many of the policies affecting their lives.

The Green Party Asylum & Migration Policy Working Group stated its position that migration is not a criminal offence and that nobody should be detained because of their immigration status.

Resistance Kitchen described the trauma caused by immigration raids in Croydon, calling for an end to raids and the closure of Campsfield. Merseyside Solidarity Knows No Borders spoke of the lasting harm experienced by friends in its community who had been detained, arguing: “We don’t need more prisons for people seeking asylum”.

And as Corporate Watch put it:

“Detaining people seeking safety is an injustice, the answer to a hostile and failing system is not more cages but community.”

How can your group or organisation endorse our statement too?

We are continuing to gather endorsements ahead of the Campsfield public inquiry, which has been postponed while we await a new date.

If your group or organisation shares our concerns about the expansion of immigration detention, we would love you to add your support.

Please email our Lead Legal Education Officer Ally, ally@righttoremain.org.uk to find out how you can endorse our interested party statement. You can read more about our statement here.