'Spirits low' at asylum centre

Staff and inmates at a detention centre for asylum seekers are struggling with a serious lack of morale, a report has revealed.

Conditions at Campsfield House in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, have been badly affected by riots and the government's decision to close the centre down, the study found.

But the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB), a visitors group for asylum seekers, praised employees for coping well with a changing environment.

Rioting broke out at the centre in November 2001, in which five detainees were hospitalised and damage caused to cells.

Ethnic mix

Some 12% of inmates at Campsfield House have suffered sexual harassment there, according to another recent report.

The IMB visited inmates at the centre 75 times last year and found it was still recovering from the riots.

The report's authors also highlighted a growing number of short term or overnight stayers, which they believe has led to problems with the ethnic mix of the population, cleanliness, and an increase in aggression towards staff.

Up to 200 detainees are held at Campsfield House while they wait to hear if their claims to stay in Britain have been successful.

The centre was a young offenders' institution until 1993, when it reopened as a detention centre for asylum seekers, run by Group 4 and supervised by the Home Office.

No date has so far been set for its closure.