Haslar Immigration Removal Centre (formerly known as Haslar Prison) was an

immigration detention Immigration detention is the policy of holding individuals suspected of visa violations, illegal entry or unauthorized arrival, as well as those subject to deportation and removal until a decision is made by immigration authorities to grant a vi ...

centre, located in

Haslar Haslar is on the south coast of England, at the southern tip of Alverstoke, on the Gosport peninsula, Hampshire. It takes its name from the Old English , meaning "hazel-landing place". It may have been named after a bank of hazel strewn on mars ...

(near

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite t ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The centre was operated by

Her Majesty's Prison Service His Majesty's Prison Service (HMPS) is a part of HM Prison and Probation Service (formerly the National Offender Management Service), which is the part of His Majesty's Government charged with managing most of the prisons within England and Wale ...

. The centre closed in 2016 with the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

planning to retain the site for use as a prison.

History

The establishment was previously known as HM Detention Centre Haslar (from 1962-1989) housing young male offenders. However, from 1989 Haslar started exclusively holding

foreign national A foreign national is any person (including an organization) who is not a national of a specific country. ("The term 'person' means an individual or an organization.") For example, in the United States and in its territories, a foreign national ...

prisoners. In February 2002 Haslar was redesignated as a Removal Centre, and began operating under Detention Centre rules. Haslar held those detained by

UK Visas and Immigration UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) is a division of the Home Office responsible for the United Kingdom's visa system. It was formed in 2013 from the section of the UK Border Agency that had administered the visa system. History The then Home Secret ...

during documentation procedures and during the process of removal or deportation. Only detainees awaiting deportation or appealing against their immigration status were held at Haslar. The vast majority of the population were ex-

prisoners who had either completed their sentence, or had their sentence "cut short" to speed up the deportation process. The detention centre closed in June 2015, and all remaining detainees were moved elsewhere. On 3 November 2016, the Ministry of Justice announced that the Centre would not be reopening.

References

External links

Ministry of Justice pages on Haslar Immigration Removal Centre

IRC Haslar - HM Inspectorate of Prisons Reports
{{Immigration detention centres in the U.K. Immigration to the United Kingdom Immigration detention centres and prisons in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in Hampshire 2015 disestablishments in England