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Date submitted

5 August 2026

Submitted by

Interested party

I am writing to object to the Home Office's proposal to Haslar Immigration Removal Centre in Gosport. The application reference is CROWN/2026/0000005 I am responding as a citizen of the UK and as human being. I feel that having an IRC holding people for administrative purposes indefinitely is a crime against humanity. It will make me feel ashamed to be human in the same sort of way that apartheid and the wartime atrocities of the 2nd world war made me feel. I was a visitor at Haslar IRC for 12 years. I saw for myself the terrible trauma and pain that indefinite detention causes. Many of these people were released into the community after spending 18 months in detention. The people I visited then moved forward forward to get ILR, citizenship, employment. The time spent in the IRC was expensive, traumatic and a huge waste of life. This would be the same situation for the people the HO is intending to detain - the majority of small boat arrivals between 2018 and 2025 received refugee status. We do not need more IRC beds. The government has to change it's political mindset. We need people. The birth rate in UK has dropped to 1.39. Asylum seekers must be made welcome. They must be given residency status on arrival. People arriving in this country must be supported to learn English and shown opportunities for work. The capabilities to convert their home qualifications must be developed. I need to live in a kind humane country with people to care for our aging population. I am responding here as a local resident I live 3.3 miles from the site. The roads around Haslar IRC are not suitable for an expansion of Haslar IRC. Many of the roads are narrow and there is a narrow controlled bridge to cross. There was only just enough parking with 130 beds. It will be a nightmare with 600 beds. The site is close to/on a rare ecologically valuable site. The are certain species only found on this stretch of the coast. My brother was a consultant naturalist and ecologist and was very excited about the variety of species on that bit of coastline e.g. Dartford warblers; skylarks; The Gilkicker Weevil; great green bush cricket and the hairstreak butterflies. The unbelievable harm of indefinite detention for administrative purposes doesn't only harm the people indefinitely detained. It harms the people making the decision to indefinitely detain for administrative purposes; it harms the people building the facility to indefinitely detain for administrative purposes; it harms the people working in the detention centre which indefinitely detains for administrative purposes; it harms the people teaching English and volunteering with people who are administratively indefinitely detained. Most of all, for me, it harms me. I was born in a country with relative stability and democracy. I will do what I can to stop the extension of Haslar IRC to minimise the harm. I will do what I can to stop the indefinite detention of people for administrative purpose.