Unlocked

Unlocking Detention shone a spotlight on the hidden world of immigration detention. This ‘virtual tour’ of the immigration detention estate used Twitter, Facebook and a website to ‘unlock’ the gates of immigration detention centres.

Each week, Unlocking Detention ‘visited’ one of the UK’s detention centres. We heard from people who had been detained there, volunteer visitors, NGOs, campaigners and the families, friends, neighbours and communities over whom detention cast its long shadows.

We started Unlocking Detention back in 2014 and it ran for 6 years. While we no longer run this campaign with its dedicated website, it has left a powerful legacy of the impact of immigration detention. We have archived the key information, and we are now proud to continue to make it accessible via our website.

“Young arrivers” caught in immigration detention

Dan Godshaw (@DanGodshaw) has worked for NGOs on migrant advocacy and support for 10 years. He has visited people held at Brook House IRC as well as supporting Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group’s (@GatDetainees) research and campaigning work since 2013. Dan [...]

2022-10-05T14:25:11+00:00November 23rd, 2017|

Time After Time: music from Campsfield House detention centre

In this blog, Ruth Nicholson describes a day of Music In Detention's songwriting workshops in Campsfield House. Ruth is a musician, and a volunteer both for Music In Detention (MID) and the Detention Forum. This blog was originally published by [...]

2022-10-05T14:26:12+00:00November 23rd, 2017|

Week 5: #Unlocked17 Visits The Verne

From the 13th - 19th November, #Unlocked17 visited The Verne, a remote detention centre on the edge of Dorset, which is scheduled to close at the end of this year. With nearly 600 beds, it is the UK's second largest [...]

2022-10-05T14:26:47+00:00November 22nd, 2017|

Detained for sleeping rough

Increased detention and deportation of EU citizens from the UK has been in the news for some time, especially in the context of debates surrounding Brexit.  NELMA has been working with EU citizens who have been detained while sleeping rough. [...]

2022-10-05T14:29:40+00:00November 21st, 2017|

Walls of resistance

This piece is written for Unlocking Detention by ‘Jose’ of the Freed Voices group (the author’s name has been altered to protect their identity). 'Jose' was detained in Campsfield detention centre.   Before I went to detention, I had posters [...]

2022-10-05T14:30:21+00:00November 20th, 2017|

#Unlocked17 Parliamentary Meeting on Immigration Detention

On the morning of Thursday 16th November, MPs and peers, experts-by-experience and others campaigning for detention reform gathered in parliament for a meeting on immigration detention. The meeting comes after several months in which immigration detention has been [...]

2022-10-05T14:31:08+00:00November 19th, 2017|

Going Behind the Walls

Located on the Isle of Portland, off Weymouth in Dorset, the Verne epitomises the Government’s ‘out of sight, out of mind’ approach to detention. In this blog, Ruth Jacobson of the Verne Visitors Group describes how this isolation [...]

2022-10-05T14:31:54+00:00November 16th, 2017|

Trafficked into detention

Trafficked people in detention are being denied the full protection of the Home Office’s flagship system for protecting victims of modern slavery, according to new research by Detention Action. Many victims of trafficking are taken to high-security detention centres [...]

2022-10-05T14:32:40+00:00November 16th, 2017|
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