This week Unlocking Detention has been ‘visiting’ Morton Hall in Lincolnshire. On Friday afternoon, Ben from Detention Action conducted a live Twitter Q&A with Dave, who’s been detained for nearly two years altogether. You can recap the whole interview below:
We're going to start our Q&A w/ Dave in a few mins. He's detained in MortonHall; once a prison, now a prison for non-prisoners. #Unlocked16 pic.twitter.com/B1umh2fu1i
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
Huge thank you to Morton Hall Visitors Group who support people in MortonHall & put us in touch w/ Dave #Unlocked16 https://t.co/TpqH06qz9X
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
.@MBEGriffiths (1/2) I knew nothing. 1st time I heard was when the prison guard said 'You're off to MortonHall, another prison’ #Unlocked16
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
.@MBEGriffiths Dave 2/2): Tascor guy said, ‘no, no, don’t give him the wrong impression, it’s different.’ Well, it isn't. #Unlocked16
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
Next question for Dave comes from us: What is the difference between detention and prison? #Unlocked16
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
Dave: MortonHall is a Cat B prison. There is no 2 ways about – it's a prison. They just call it by a different name, that’s all. #Unlocked16 https://t.co/7ji6PRnbZ2
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
Dave: They say I'm here because I'll re-offend, I'm a risk to the public. I am a medical professional. I do healing not harming. #Unlocked16 https://t.co/x18T7ceP6W
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
Dave: I haven’t got a clue. It’s indefinite here. No time-limit. There’s unlawful detention everywhere I look. #Unlocked16 #Time4aTimeLimit https://t.co/vGVqldyi9J
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
I have been told by academics that demanding a time limit on #detention is misguided. Do they have the nerve to tell that to Dave? https://t.co/NT4JxaYQ9i
— Eiri Ohtani (@EiriOhtani) November 4, 2016
Dave: Morton Hall is in Lincoln but it's built like a hideout. It’s in the middle of some fields. You can smell the cow shit…#Unlocked16 https://t.co/RqhPEorxMX
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
Question for Dave in Morton Hall from Janet @LD4SOS (who's passion on detention another eg. of cross-party support for reform) #Unlocked16 pic.twitter.com/MAnpmviUxc
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
Dave: Friends&family find it hard to come. This week I saw no-one. I spoke to my girlfriend. Sometimes my nephew calls. And you! #Unlocked16 https://t.co/0Y0ToP3nKi
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
Dave: Life…Just regular life, y'know? I miss my friends and family. My people. The last few years of my life are gone…lost. #Unlocked16 https://t.co/0VJGgAo8Ei
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
Ques. for Dave in Morton Hall from @Right_to_Remain & @DetentionAction #Unlocked16 session w/ the inspirational @ManchesterMiSol #Unlocked16 pic.twitter.com/fsJT9KEnPs
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
Dave: I’m broken, distressed. I feel like I’m running downhill & can’t stop. You try to pull yourself up but…it’s difficult. #Unlocked16 https://t.co/XRiHOGxdH3
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
Such a powerful way of expressing the feeling of powerlessness created by detention, total loss of control #Unlocked16 https://t.co/ZXF5mDiGJU
— LisaLeziza (@LisaLeziza) November 4, 2016
Dave: You can use the yard a few hrs a day. It’s the only fresh air we have. You can see the trees over the top of the fence. #Unlocked16 https://t.co/f4rtTiYyX0
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
Q for Dave from @CSANwire – social action arm of Catholic Church (reminder of strong inter-faith support for detention reform) #Unlocked16 pic.twitter.com/vH6uHFKTC1
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
Dave: There's a gym but I just walk around the yard, 10 times a day. Everyone trying to find ways to keep their mind off things. #Unlocked16 https://t.co/KRsKZjEUCV
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
Dave: I've been detained nearly 2 years. There's others that have been detained longer, but altogether, not just in Morton Hall. #Unlocked16 https://t.co/KzkCyjebI3
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
Question for Dave #Unlocked16 @DetentionForum pic.twitter.com/4qCIt0d8jO
— ScotDetaineeVisitors (@SDVisitors) November 4, 2016
Dave: I do different work shifts & I need that. I only get paid peanuts but being locked up, you need to do something, anything. #Unlocked16 https://t.co/hpGbcnU2YH
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
Dave: Worst part is Everything In Between. Every other second. Sometimes you blow up, want to quit. Not-knowing drives you mad. #Unlocked16 https://t.co/N3wCAic0Mk
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
Dave: I had big expectations. I thought UK was a civilised country. It was unthinkable that these things [detention] happen here #Unlocked16 https://t.co/JVBaR0B9mI
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
Question for Dave, detained nearly two years in Morton Hall, from Gemma @4refugeewomen #Unlocked16 #Time4aTimeLimit pic.twitter.com/OGw4HSsWKK
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
Dave: I learnt that govt are mixing up the immigration system & the justice system, and compromising them both. We need change. #Unlocked16 https://t.co/Vc3QHj5530
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
Dave: Home Office are not applying their own guidelines.They are making their own rules.There is no accountability in detention. #Unlocked16 https://t.co/aZrlb0yfPg
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
Question for Dave, detained in Morton Hall, from @UKLGIG, who's vital new report came out last week: https://t.co/L7DPsXEnOu #Unlocked16 pic.twitter.com/9ARRHTIfkY
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
Dave: I'd ask her to look at proposals for time limit. Look at other EU countries. There has to be a cap. Its a basic principle. #Unlocked16 https://t.co/EgW3zpcnPs
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
Dave: Unfit for purpose – it doesn’t even do what it says its supposed to do. #Unlocked16 https://t.co/eOlUqTdAJz
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
And final question of the whole Q&A today is from @ManchesterMiSol and gets at the heart of what detention is trying to destroy #Unlocked16 pic.twitter.com/ugqPqsXOgN
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
Dave: I do. I come a long way, many mountains. But I am still looking forward to my freedom. Where there is life, there is hope. #Unlocked16 https://t.co/mIR35fuT5g
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016
That's all for today's Q&A! A huge thank you to Dave for his bravery. We stand in solidarity w/ him & all those in Morton Hall. #Unlocked16 pic.twitter.com/kemGUUTQdT
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) November 4, 2016