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.

Unlocking Detention’s visit to Dover

After the visit to the Verne, we moved round the coast and last week, 5 to 11 October, Unlocking Detention 'visited' Dover detention centre.  https://twitter.com/DetentionForum/status/650955106565816321 https://twitter.com/DetentionForum/status/650954091388997632 We had some great blog posts throughout the week - first up [...]

2022-10-05T20:31:44+00:00October 12th, 2015|

“We all still have problems talking about it”

This year, Unlocking Detention is exploring how detention affects communities across the UK - not just where detention centres are located.  This blog post is written by an artist who is a member of an asylum/immigration support group [...]

2022-10-05T20:33:15+00:00October 12th, 2015|

Experiencing Democracy Up-Close and Personal – #UnlocktheDebate

Sonja Miley who works at Waging Peace - a human rights organisation which campaigns against genocide and systematic human rights violations in Sudan, and an active member of the Detention Forum - writes about her experience of watching the [...]

2022-10-05T20:35:28+00:00October 7th, 2015|

When we ‘visited’ The Verne…

The first stop of this year's Unlocking Detention tour was the Verne detention centre. https://twitter.com/DetentionForum/status/649889152616525824 Last year when we visited the Verne, it was still a prison.  It has recently become the latest addition to the detention estate [...]

2022-10-05T20:36:18+00:00October 6th, 2015|

When an individual is detained everyone is affected

This blog post is written by Gemma Pillay, from Nottingham.  She works for the Nottingham and Notts Refugee Forum.  On Sunday 28th June 2015 I received a text from my friend Imran: Hello gemma its Imran here I [...]

2022-10-05T20:37:36+00:00October 6th, 2015|

Soft furnishings don’t hide the bars

This piece was written by Fraser Paterson, who works at Samphire. You can follow them on Twitter at @samphire_ Many people will know Dover as Britain’s main border with Europe and living here you are occasionally reminded on [...]

2022-10-05T20:38:34+00:00October 5th, 2015|

My first time visiting The Verne

This piece is written by Rahwa Fessahaye, Advocacy Co-ordinator at Detention Action The first time I went to Verne IRC was in November 2014, a few weeks after I had returned from maternity leave. I was curious to see [...]

2022-10-05T20:40:13+00:00September 30th, 2015|

The Verne IRC: detention on your doorstep

As well as shining a spotlight on the very specific physical sites of detention which make up the UK's detention estate, 'Unlocking Detention' is also about highlighting the ways in which detention impacts communities outside. With this week's focus on [...]

2022-10-05T20:41:03+00:00September 29th, 2015|
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