The Home Office advertised for a religious adviser role at Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre that listed counselling and arranging weddings for detainees among its main duties, prompting questions about the risks of so-called sham marriages.
The vacancy, for a "religious affairs manager" at the centre near Kidlington, Oxfordshire, said the post would be responsible for "counsel[ling] residents who request marriage while in custody and mak[ing] any arrangements for the wedding" as part of a broader programme of religious activities and pastoral care. Campsfield House, which previously closed in 2018 after riots, escapes and criticism of conditions, is due to reopen in December with capacity for up to 400 people.
Detainees in immigration removal centres, who can include refused asylum seekers, people awaiting removal and some convicted offenders, are permitted under human rights law to marry while detained. Home Office guidance cited in the job posting notes that "getting married or entering a civil partnership to gain an immigration advantage is not a legal impediment and, in any event, only a registrar may prevent a marriage/civil partnership on this ground." The guidance also requires that detainees be able to be escorted to a ceremony "without disrupting the smooth running of the centre."
The Home Secretary has the power to order an investigation if officials suspect a marriage is sham; to stop a marriage going ahead, investigators must show one or both parties are foreign nationals, that the relationship is not genuine and that the marriage is intended to circumvent UK immigration controls. Even where an investigation takes place, marriages and civil partnerships can proceed if there is no legal impediment and the couple has complied with any inquiry.
The advert has been taken down from the Home Office website, although copies remained on other job platforms. It said the adviser would also provide appropriate rooms, literature and artefacts for religious observance, issue communications to staff and residents about festivals, and liaise with outside faith communities.
The hiring notice for Campsfield comes amid scrutiny of other planned recruitment across the detention estate. A separate row erupted after a set of roles advertised at Heathrow Immigration Removal Centre included positions described as tutors for activities such as hairdressing, floristry and cake decorating, and a gym manager, with advertised salaries above £30,000. The positions were advertised by Mitie, the facilities firm contracted in 2014 to provide recreational services under a deal worth about £290 million.
Home Office Minister Seema Malhotra said the department had asked for some roles at Heathrow to be scrapped, saying officials "don't believe all these roles are necessary." A Home Office spokesperson previously said the department had begun working with removal centre providers to set out expectations for education and activities across the detention estate and that planned recruitment was being actively reviewed.
There are currently seven immigration removal centres in the UK, four short-term holding facilities and one pre-departure accommodation centre. The government is also planning to open Haslar Immigration Removal Centre in Gosport, Hampshire. Some 1,940 people were recorded as being held under immigration powers in the UK as of December last year.
The recruitment and running of the detention estate is unfolding amid a rise in small-boat Channel crossings. More than 31,000 migrants had arrived in the UK across the Channel this year at the time of the reporting, a rise of about 40% from the same period the previous year, and more than 50,000 people had arrived since the change of government in July.
Migrants may be detained for administrative reasons at various points in the immigration process: on arrival, while a claim is examined, after refusal when removal is being arranged, during compliance checks, or after serving a criminal sentence if immigration powers are applied. Detention is intended to establish identity, verify the basis of claims or facilitate removal, though most periods of detention end in removal or release, often on immigration bail.
The Home Office was contacted for comment.