Unlocked Archives - Page 26 of 32

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.

Prison under immigration powers: A plane crash

These piece was written anonymously for #Unlocked15 by a member of the Freed Voices group - a group of experts-by-experience who are dedicated to speaking out about the realities of detention in the UK and campaigning for detention [...]

Unlocked2022-10-05T20:42:44+00:00September 21st, 2015|

‘Detention is everywhere’

This is a write-up of the Right to Remain annual conference which took place on 5th September 2015, which originally appeared on their website. While #unlocked15 'visits' physical places of immigration detention, let's not forget 'detention is everywhere'. [...]

Unlocked2022-10-05T20:44:14+00:00September 21st, 2015|

How did Unlocking Detention start?

Welcome back to the Unlocking Detention tour. This year’s hashtag is #unlocked15, and we look forward to making new friends and opening more people’s eyes to the reality of immigration detention in the UK. For those who are [...]

Unlocked2022-10-05T20:55:14+00:00September 20th, 2015|

The deserving detainee?

This International Migrants' Day post was written for Unlocking Detention by Melanie Griffiths. Melanie is an ESRC Future Leaders Fellow at the University of Bristol. Her project, entitled Detention, Deportability and the Family: Migrant Men's Negotiations of the [...]

Unlocked2022-10-06T08:20:48+00:00December 18th, 2014|

Detention knows no borders

This piece by Eiri Ohtani was first published on openDemocracy on 15 December 2014, as part of the Unlocking Detention series. The first ever parliamentary inquiry into immigration detention in the UK listened to the voices of 'experts-by-experience' [...]

Unlocked2022-10-06T08:21:50+00:00December 15th, 2014|

Immigration Detention and the Scottish Referendum

This post was written by Detention Forum Scotland, in response to the Detention Forum's question of 'what are your hopes for the detention inquiry in light of the 'NO' vote in the Scottish Independence Referendum?' This post originally [...]

Unlocked2022-10-06T08:24:58+00:00December 8th, 2014|

Like a chicken surrounded by dogs

By Kate Alexander, coordinator of Scottish Detainee Visitors (a member of the Detention Forum). This article originally appeared in Open Democracy's Unlocked series. Scotland may have a different relationship with immigration from the rest of the UK, but [...]

Unlocked2022-10-06T08:23:30+00:00December 8th, 2014|

Colnbrook, in conversation

Joe is an asylum-seeker from East Africa. He has been in Colnbrook IRC for four months. In this interview for the 'Unlocking Detention' twitter-tour, he talks to Detention Action's Ben du Preez about life inside Colnbrook, the emotional [...]

Unlocked2022-10-06T08:26:05+00:00December 3rd, 2014|

Life after detention

This piece by Saskia Garner was first published by openDemocracy on 1st December 2014. Saskia works at Refugee Action as Policy Manager. The adverse effects of being detained in an immigration removal centre harm possibilities for reintegration in [...]

Unlocked2022-10-06T08:27:11+00:00December 1st, 2014|

No end to the horrors of detention

This piece by Ben du Preez was first published by openDemocracy on 1st December 2014. Ben works at Detention Action and is a member of the Detention Forum Communications Working Group. The invisibility of immigration detention centres and [...]

Unlocked2022-10-06T08:28:52+00:00December 1st, 2014|