Blunkett to shut 'outdated' and hated Campsfield

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An immigration detention centre that has been the scene of rioting, hunger strikes and suicides will be closed, the Home Secretary said yesterday.

David Blunkett said that Campsfield House, near Oxford, was "outdated" and would be replaced by a system of accommodation and removal centres for asylum-seekers.

Campaigners who had been calling for the closure of the centre, which is run by the private security firm Group 4, said they were "astonished and delighted" by the move.

The immigration detention centre in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, which can house up to 183 people and now holds 177, has attracted much controversy since its status was changed from that of a young offenders' institution in 1993.

But as he announced his shake-up of the immigration and asylum system yesterday, Mr Blunkett told the Commons: "This out-dated centre is no longer appropriate in the 21st century. These places will be transferred to the new high-standard removal centres."

A Home Office spokesman said they would begin transferring people from Campsfield after Christmas and it would close some time next year.

Protesters have regularly converged at Campsfield calling for its closure, and detainees have embarked on hunger strikes to raise the profile of their treatment. Several riots have also taken place at the premises by detainees in recent years.

Teresa Hayter, of the Close Campsfield Campaign, said: "This is excellent news and I am both astonished and delighted ... It is an appalling abuse of human rights to keep people in these conditions."