 Fire wrecked half of the buildings at the centre |
A detention centre for asylum seekers which was badly damaged by fire in a riot last year has re-opened. About 60 single women whose applications for asylum have been refused are expected to be detained in blocks left unscathed by the blaze.
It is the start of a "progressive reopening" of the �100m Yarl's Wood centre in Bedfordshire, the Home Office said.
However, campaigners chained themselves together for a demonstration against holding asylum seekers in detention centres.
About 40 Stop Arbitrary Detentions at Yarl's Wood protesters marched from Bedford to the asylum centre on Sunday.
A report into precisely what happened at Yarl's Wood in Bedfordshire has yet to be completed.
Private security firm Group 4, which runs the complex, said they would have 180 staff at the centre to begin with.
The undamaged half of the complex has been modified and fitted with sprinklers.
Immigration minister Beverley Hughes said: "Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre has re-opened and is accepting detainees.
"This is the start of a slow and gradual build up within the modified centre, helping us to increase the number of detention spaces, and further improve our removals rate."
But Conservative MP for North East Bedfordshire Alistair Burt said questions raised about the safety of the centre have not been answered.
He said: "The difficulty is that the trust and confidence people had in the Immigration Service and the Home Office has largely been taken away.
"One has to presume the detainees and those working at Yarl's Wood will not be in unsafe conditions but that is entirely what people were promised before."
Detainees escaped
He added that, while sprinklers had been installed, questions remained about how the fire managed to sweep so quickly through the complex.
Members of the Stop Arbitrary Detentions at Yarl's Wood Campaign marched for five miles in their chained protest against the "appalling" way detainees are held.
Campaign organiser Emma Ginn said about 40 people took part in the march and were met by 70 more protesters at the gates of the centre, many of whom had travelled from all over the country.
 Emma Ginn: "Absolutely devastated" |
Ms Ginn said: "I am absolutely devastated that asylum seekers will be continued to be locked up here and this is being allowed to continue."
The detention centre had been open for just three months when half of it was burnt down during the riot in February last year, causing damage of almost �40 million.
The night of violence saw detainees smashing their way through the centre and escaping through a perimeter fence.
Last month two men were jailed for four years for their part in the disturbance but no-one has been convicted of arson.
Of the 33 detainees who escaped during the chaos, in which keys were seized from guards and scores of CCTV cameras were smashed, 12 are still on the run.
The prison and probation ombudsman is still conducting an inquiry into the disturbance at Yarl's Wood.
The government's flagship detention centre opened in November of 2001 with a capacity to hold 900 people.
By 2005, Yarl's Wood will accommodate about 400 people including single females and family groups, but no single men.
One-Minute World News 
News services
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
This is the start of a slow and gradual build up within the modified centre 
