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.

Taking detention drama straight to the heart of Parliament

This blog post was written for Unlocking Detention by John Tomlinson of Strawberry Blond Curls Theatre Company, (@SBC_Theatre) who performed their play 'Tanja' at this week's Sanctuary in Parliament event. We, Strawberry Blonde Curls Theatre Company, are John [...]

2022-10-05T18:01:35+00:00December 3rd, 2015|

Visiting, unlocked – Danae on Colnbrook

This blog post is an #Unlocked15 interview with Danae Psilla, Advocacy Co-Ordinator at Detention Action. Can you remember the first time you visited Colnbrook? What were your hopes/fears/assumptions? I first visited Colnbrook 5 years ago, when I was [...]

2022-10-05T18:02:49+00:00December 2nd, 2015|

Unlocking Detention ‘visits’ Tinsley House

Last week, Unlocking Detention visited Tinsley House, possibly one of the least well-known detention centres. https://twitter.com/DetentionForum/status/669464561573998592 https://twitter.com/DetentionForum/status/670167707975725057 https://twitter.com/DetentionForum/status/669973657825861632 https://twitter.com/DetentionForum/status/670185303580082177 We heard <a href="http://unlocked.org.uk/blog/almost-as-british-as-me/">powerful stories</a> of the men that Nic Eadie, director of Gatwick Detainee Welfare Group, has met [...]

2022-10-05T19:48:11+00:00November 30th, 2015|

“They want us to imprison and deport ourselves”

This post was written for Unlocking Detention by Stuart Crosthwaite, Secretary of the South Yorkshire Migration and Asylum Action Group (SYMAAG),  with thanks to the refugees and asylum seekers quoted here (some names changed) and to John Grayson [...]

2022-10-05T19:52:20+00:00November 30th, 2015|

All eyes on amendment 32: Time to stop the same trends repeating

This blog post was written for Unlocking Detention by Eiri Ohtani, coordinator of the Detention Forum. A sense of deja vu The latest statistics on the government’s use of immigration detention released yesterday show a worrying 11% increase [...]

2022-10-05T19:54:05+00:00November 27th, 2015|

Time to listen to the experts: It’s time for a time-limit

This blog post was written for Unlocking Detention by Lisa Matthews, coordinator of Right to Remain.  Right to Remain are a coordinating group of the Detention Forum, leading on communications and campaigns, and run Unlocking Detention on behalf [...]

2022-10-05T19:55:02+00:00November 27th, 2015|

The damage of indefinite detention

This blog post was written by Colleen Molloy, City of Sanctuary National Development Officer.  The image used at the start of this blog post was produced for City of Sanctuary by Patti McKenna, a community artist in Swansea. [...]

2022-10-05T19:56:28+00:00November 23rd, 2015|
Go to Top