Campsfield House

Campsfield House used to be a youth detention centre, but it re-opened as an Immigration Detention Centre in November 1993. It originally had 200 places for both male and female prisoners, however in 1997, capacity was reduced to 184 and the prison became male only. The capacity rose to 282 bed spaces in 2017.[2] Over 3600 people passed through the centre in 2017, with an average stay of 39 days.[2]

Although the detainee population initially consisted of asylum seekers, from June 2006 government policy saw the population change to mainly (an average of 80%) former HMP prisoners.

Until 2011, Campsfield was run by the American private prison company GEO Group. Campsfield House was their first European contract. In 2011 operations at the facility were turned over to Mitie Group PLC.[3] Mitie's contract for Campsfield House expired in June 2019.[2]

Detainees at Campsfield House were held behind a 20-foot-high (6.1 m) razor wire–topped fence. Throughout the centre there were surveillance cameras, and friends and relatives wishing to visit detainees were searched before passing through five separate remote-controlled doors. Detainees were allowed the use of mobile phones. Security of the centre was maintained by large perimeter fences, but within the establishment detainees were relatively free to roam. As opposed to cells, detainees had two or three man rooms and communal shower and toilet facilities. There were around fifteen single rooms. The doors to rooms were never locked, however the gates to the three accommodation blocks were locked between midnight and six in the morning. Detainees were free to move around the blocks during this time. This relatively relaxed regime, coupled with the new influx of ex-HMP prisoners led to difficulty in maintaining discipline at Campsfield.

Like all Immigration Removal Centres, Campsfield House was regularly inspected by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons. The last full inspection was in 2014. The Chief Inspector reported: 'This was the latest in a sequence of positive reports about the centre, all of which have found consistent improvement.... Overall, this was a very positive inspection. Staff and managers at Campsfield House should be congratulated in dealing professionally and sensitively with detainees”.[4]

The initial establishment of an immigration detention centre at Campsfield House was opposed by the local parish council, however they were overruled by the Home Office. The Campaign to Close Campsfield held monthly demonstrations outside the premises, using the slogan 'Asylum seekers are not criminals'. They also published the Campsfield Monitor which gave detainees accounts of what is happening inside the centre.[10]

In the 2010 General Election, Aaron Barschak ran as an independent candidate in the Witney constituency against David Cameron to highlight the plight of asylum seekers and the treatment of people in Campsfield House.[11] At the count he wore a sign around his neck which read "Close Campsfield House". He won 53 votes.

• Mass escape from detention centre BBC 5 August 2007. "Police arrested 12 of the detainees shortly after the mass escape. ... Police are looking for [another] 14 asylum seekers who escaped from a detention centre after a fire was started there."
• Campsfield's troubled history BBC, 6 August 2007, "There has been a long campaign to close Campsfield House. ... The escape of 26 detainees from Campsfield House in Oxfordshire is the latest in a series of disturbances to hit the immigration removals centre."

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