Hundreds of anti-migrant protesters marched through the coastal town of Gosport on Sunday afternoon, opposing plans to redevelop a former immigration removal centre. Many demonstrators waved England and Union flags and chanted “deport the lot” and “remigration now”.
Social media posts said the protest was organised by “Gosport Patriots” in opposition to “undocumented men being held” at Haslar Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) in the Hampshire town.
Counter-protesters and police presence
Dozens of counter-protesters held signs at a static protest near the town’s ferry port, with some signs reading “fight ignorance, not immigrants” and “refugees welcome, celebrate diversity”.
The two groups were kept at a distance from each other by police, who used police vans and horses to manage the protests. Police powers were in place prohibiting face coverings in some areas of Gosport on Sunday, and the protests passed largely peacefully.
Context and Home Office plans
Some 12 people were arrested earlier this month at a protest against the arrival of migrants in the town after a small boat crossing.
The Home Office said earlier this year it was proceeding with plans to open a redeveloped immigration removal centre next year at the former Haslar IRC, which was closed in 2015.
Capacity details
The Home Office said the centre would be a “mixture of refurbished and new-build accommodation built to the latest standards, taking account of findings from external scrutiny reports and internal lessons learned reviews to provide modern, safe, secure accommodation for detained men”.
Around 130 bed spaces will be created through the refurbishment of the existing accommodation, compared with 198 places at the former IRC when it closed. Subject to planning permission and necessary approvals, a second phase of the project would provide around 470 additional places, increasing Haslar’s total capacity to around 600.
