Oxfordshire residents have been left conflicted following the announcement of an asylum centre in Bicester.
The Home Office has unveiled plans to house asylum seekers on Ministry of Defence land in Bicester as part of a wider national strategy to phase out hotel use.
Opposers to the plans have criticised an anti-racism group as they also prepare to protest against the Bicester asylum centre.
Oxford Stand up to Racism will stage a counter-protest on Sunday, July 12, outside Coventry Building Society on Sheep Street in Bicester at 10:30am.
The anti-racism activist group will counter Pink Ladies Oxford, the Oxford branch of a national movement of women who stage protests across the country to warn of the danger they say illegal migrants pose to women’s safety.
The anti-racist group asks other activists to join them in standing up to the “scapegoating of Muslims, migrants and refugees.”
Oxford Stand up to Racism are set to protest in Bicester to stop the “racist lie that Black men are a sexual threat to white women and girls.”
But many residents have called the group hypocritical for saying refugees are welcome and then also protesting an asylum centre being built near them.
MOD Bicester (Image: Ed Nix)
Linda Cooper said: “Are any of them taking the government up on the offer of a spare bedroom in their house I wonder”.
Darren Feeney said: “So the anti racist group was like lads, we bored, let’s forget our cause for a minute and go be anti anti group”.
Liz Woodcock said: “So now they are protesting against each other?”
Paul Samuel: “Thought you said all refugees are welcome.”
Jake Carvell said: “Refugees welcome! Just not next to us!”
Some residents supported their cause.
Lou McKeag said: “Love this. Thank god there are some sensible people around with bigger hearts.
“We had a load of immigrants in the hotel in our village, and they were absolutely lovely.”
Calum Miller, MP for Bicester and Woodstock (Image: Contributed)
Calum Miller joined 2,000 other people in signing an open letter to Asylum Welcome in 2025, which called for unity and compassion towards asylum seekers.
Now, the MP for Bicester and Woodstock has been vocal in protesting against the Bicester site, calling the planned location the “wrong site” with “no credible plan for local services, safety, social cohesion or proper support”.
Planning permission is being sought for three sites across England, including locations in Barnham, Suffolk, and Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire, which together could accommodate up to 3,750 people.
The Bicester site, a long-standing logistics hub used by various military units since the Second World War, has been identified as a key location in the government’s approach.
Oxford Stand Up to Racism have been approached for a comment.