16/03/2004

Scottish asylum centre to be expanded

Dungavel Removal Centre in Scotland is to be expanded with the building of a new 43-bed unit for single adult males, the Home Office announced today.

The move is part of government plans to increase the number of detention spaces in order to create a "more efficient asylum system" and increase the proportion of failed asylum seekers and other immigration offenders removed.

Dungavel currently has capacity for housing around 150 detainees, including some families, and the new unit for single males is due to be completed in August 2004.

The number of detention places will be expanded to more than 2,700 overall by the end of the year. Colnbrook Removal Centre, near Heathrow, is due to open in August 2004 and will house around 330 single males. Work is also ongoing to refurbish Harmondsworth and Yarl's Wood and the Home Office also plans to expand Campsfield House, near Oxford.

Home Secretary David Blunkett said: "Increasing the amount of space in the detention estate is an important part of our strategy to remove those people who have no right to be here.

"This new unit at Dungavel will be used to house single males only and, together with plans for increases at other sites and a new centre near Heathrow, will help to expand our overall detention capacity.

"Removal centres are an integral part of our balanced approach to immigration by helping us cut abuse of the asylum system and ensure an efficient end-to-end process."

(gmcg)

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