We have received this message from Oxford Against Immigration Detention.
The government announced it intends to re-open Campsfield immmigration detention centre.The adjournment debate will take place in the House of Commons on Friday 9 September and is expected to begin at 2:30pm, possibly earlier.
Principal speaker: Layla Moran MP, Oxford West and Abingdon
We were deeply disappointed to read last week that the legal challenge brought by Women for Refugee Women (WfRW) had been unsuccessful. The judge who heard the case did not uphold WfRW's position that by detaining women in Derwentside without access to in-person legal advice, the Home Office had denied them access to justice The ruling notes that "the quality and convenience of modern video-conference facilities is very good, and comparable to an in-person meeting" and that "the telephone is an adequate means of communication for most people".
On 28 and 29 June Women for Refugee Women took the Government to the High Court for a Judicial Review of the Derwentside Immigration Detention Centre IRC (formerly known as Hassockfield). The verdict is expected in July.
As this case progressed we learnt the following important information
51 women in total were detained at the IRC at the time the judge asked for the information.
13 were foreign national offenders (this means they had been sentenced by a UK court to 12 months or more imprisonment, and had completed their sentence). In our view they had "served their time" and it constitutes double punishment then to deport/return them to the country which they originally sought to escape from.
3 port arrivals (airport or seaport) sent straight to Hassockfield/Derwentside IRC.
35 'other immigration offenders' (16 of these had claimed asylum or their asylum claims were being assessed).
"How can the Home Office separate me from my children? If they force me to go, I will die. I escaped Nigeria to save my life."
These are the words of a woman Priti Patel is threatening to send by force to Nigeria tomorrow.
She's just one of several mothers and grandmothers who will be torn from their British children and grandkids if this mass deportation flight is allowed to take off.
Responding to the news that the Home Office is planning to reopen Campsfield House in Kidlington as part of their Rwanda Plan, Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon Layla Moran said:
"This disgraceful decision reflects at best a failure of policy and at worst complete heartlessness from the Home Office. Our community fought for years to close this facility, and will be incredibly dismayed by this announcement.
