City of Durham MP Mary Kelly Foy and Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys, who are among the signatories speaking out against plans for an immigration centre at Medomsley PET Shop Boys frontman Neil Tennant has joined hundreds of public figures in an outcry over plans to use the site of a notorious former detention centre to house illegal immigrants awaiting deportation. Over 200 people have written to the Home Secretary today to express concerns about the plans for the centre for women at the former Hassockfield Secure Training Centre, in Medomsley, County Durham – previously the Medomsley Detention Centre. Among the signatories are City of Durham MP Mary Kelly Foy and several more MPs, along with playwright and scriptwriter of Our Friends in the North, Peter Flannery and Rabbi Sybil Sheridan of the Newcastle Reform Synagogue.
THE site of a youth prison where hundreds of boys and young men were physically and sexually abused is to become an immigration detention centre for women.
The former Medomsley detention centre in Co Durham is due to open in the autumn to hold 85 female asylum-seekers, despite previous Home Office pledges to reduce the detention estate.
Recently established local campaigns against the plans have raised concerns about detainees’ welfare, access to legal support and a lack of scrutiny of the proposals.
Objections have also been raised about how reopening the site could affect the local community and former inmates who have been left scarred by the abuse that they suffered there.
Former Medomsley Detention Centre to become immigration centre creating 200 jobs chroniclelive.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chroniclelive.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
“Close the camps, save lives”: Almost 10,000 call for closure of âdangerousâ army camps used to house asylum seekers
âDire health risksâ: More than 100 residents at the army barracks in Kent now have COVID, according to Freedom from Torture
A SCANDAL: The government claims the army barracks are safe, suitable accommodation during a pandemic (photo via Getty Images)
NEARLY 10,000 people have signed a petition calling for the closure of controversial army barracks in Wales and Kent which are being used to house asylum seekers following an outbreak of COVID-19 at one of the camps.
Launched by campaigning charity
Freedom from Torture yesterday, the petition is already close to its target of 10,000 signatures, with 9,561 people having shown their support in less than 24 hours.