This week, Unlocking Detention visited Morton Hall in Lincolnshire. Morton Hall opened as an “immigration removal centre” in 2011, having previously been other kinds of prison for men, women and youth since 1958.
There are 392 bed spaces at Morton Hall, all for men.
#Morton Hall is in Lincolnshire. It used to be a prison, and by many accounts still feels like one: https://t.co/nWPVOfEi1x #Unlocked16
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) October 31, 2016
#Morton Hall is isolated. “Phone signal is really bad so no one can get in touch.” https://t.co/C4J0rcDPui #Unlocked16 pic.twitter.com/6KTTfO1mbZ
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) October 31, 2016
Michael: “You have your high walls, you have your barbed wire on top, you have dogs.” https://t.co/1ywlQogzsB #Unlocked16 #Morton Hall
— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) October 31, 2016
No phone signal to contact lawyers/NGOs, 3 hours visiting time, pay of £1 ph… the harsh reality of our clients at Morton Hall #Unlocked16 https://t.co/MlCln3lOua
— Silvia Nicolaou (@silvia_eirini) October 31, 2016
Morton Hall Detainee Visitors Group support those held at #MortonHall: often making long journey from Nottingham #unlocked16
— AVID (@AVIDdetention) November 2, 2016
We see that #MortonHall is a challenging centre, isolated and far from support networks #detention #unlocked16
— AVID (@AVIDdetention) November 2, 2016
Along with the Verne, #MortonHall has a high proportion of people transferred from prison, at risk of long term #detention #unlocked16
— AVID (@AVIDdetention) November 2, 2016
We had a really interesting range of blog posts and articles published this week.
Melanie Griffiths, an ESRC Future Leaders Fellow at the University of Bristol, wrote on Open Democracy about the impact that detention has on families, relationships and parents.
The vast majority of people in #detention, about whom you hear least about: men. By @MBEGriffiths #unlocked16 https://t.co/RxMk2YUWad
— Eiri Ohtani (@EiriOhtani) October 31, 2016
Powerful article by @MBEGriffiths for #Unlocked16. Immigration detention: racist, sexist, heartless attacks on family life. This has to stop https://t.co/QPC2PlBy6Y
— Irregular Glaswegian (@michaelsremains) October 31, 2016
Amazing piece for #Unlocked16 from @MBEGriffiths on the impact of detention on fathers, brothers, sons, men @5050oD https://t.co/e04JqfFmsm
— Detention Action (@DetentionAction) October 31, 2016
We also shared an amazing audio piece in which Kasonga interviews his old friend, Harsha, about the impact Kasonga’s detention had on him – a must listen!
LISTEN: moving, funny, powerful reflections on losing your best friend to detention. #Unlocked16 #Time4aTimeLimit https://t.co/i6ul8qLcoz
— Marienna Pope-Weidemann (@MariennaPW) November 1, 2016
An incredible listen. Kasonga – detained 2 yrs -interviews best friend about impact detention had on him https://t.co/FcynYu7NdM #Unlocked16
— LisaLeziza (@LisaLeziza) November 1, 2016
We also published a fascinating piece by Amanda Schmid-Scott, PhD Researcher at the University of Exeter, on the every day violence and bureacratisation of life in immigration detention: what might a re-imagining of violence reveal about the lived experience of immigration detention?
Great piece from @amandargscott for #Unlocked16 on the violence of bureaucracy in detention. @Right_to_Remain https://t.co/TWZ7iUxoQc
— Detention Action (@DetentionAction) November 4, 2016
On Friday, we had our weekly live interview with someone detained in the centre we’re ‘visiting’ for the week. This week we heard from Dave, who is currently detained in Morton Hall. A great range of questions (from Detention Forum members and from members of Manchester Migrant Solidarity particularly), and compelling answers. Take a look …
http://unlocked.org.uk/blog/live-q-and-a-with-dave-detained-in-morton-hall/