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.

Living outside the fence: Story of Haslar

By Charlie Leddy-Owen, University of Portsmouth. When visiting Haslar Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) for the first time I was struck by the pleasantness of the local area. Haslar’s western boundary adjoins a residential neighbourhood of detached and semi-detached [...]

2022-10-06T09:39:31+00:00October 1st, 2014|

Too many laws, not enough justice: A voice from Haslar

We received this blog entry from Henry who is in Haslar Immigration Removal Centre. My name is Henry, aged 53, and though of Nigerian and Sierra Leonean mixed parentage, I have spent the last 31 years of my [...]

2022-10-06T09:39:10+00:00September 29th, 2014|

“As the weeks pass their demeanour changes”

Refugee Action are members of the Detention Forum and used to provide advice about assisted return to people in detention, before the Home Office withdrew the contract.  These are some of the experiences of one of their caseworkers. [...]

2022-10-06T09:40:45+00:00September 23rd, 2014|

Detained at the UK border: Mould, cat calls and barbed wire

Ali McGinley of AVID - a member of the Detention Forum - writes for the #Unlocked series in Open Democracy on detention in short-term holding facilities. Key statutory instruments governing the use of detention do not apply to [...]

2022-10-06T09:42:05+00:00September 22nd, 2014|

Kuka on the Parliamentary Inquiry

Image courtesy of Freed Voices This post was written by Ivo Kuka, who has experienced immigration detention.  His testimony was provided for Detention Action's forthcoming annual report. In 2008, the Independent Asylum Commission did an assessment of the UK’s [...]

2022-10-06T09:42:46+00:00September 17th, 2014|

The art of listening?

By Eiri Ohtani from the Detention Forum. Yesterday morning, I joined colleagues from Right to Remain, Detention Action and JRS UK who nervously gathered at JRS UK’s headquarters in east London.  We had a reason to be nervous. [...]

2022-10-06T09:43:25+00:00September 17th, 2014|

Foreign national prisoners: The fear of being forgotten

By Francisca Stewart. Francisca works for Article 1, a member organisation of the Detention Forum. Published at OpenDemocracy, as part of a series of articles on unlocking detention. Too often for foreign national prisoners in Britain, the completion [...]

2022-10-06T09:46:00+00:00September 12th, 2014|

Unlocking Detention, Unlocking Change

By Eiri Ohtani from the Detention Forum. Immigration detention is often hidden.  It is hidden behind the gates and barbed wires.  It is hidden at the back of people’s consciousness.  It is also hidden because many of us [...]

2022-10-06T09:47:26+00:00September 12th, 2014|
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