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.

Week 9: #Unlocked17 visits Dungavel

In the ninth and final visit of #Unlocked17, the focus was on Dungavel, Scotland's only detention centre. Dungavel is 30 miles from Glasgow on country roads, with a journey time of about 45 minutes. But people are brought [...]

2022-10-05T13:53:11+00:00December 20th, 2017|

Guantanamo Bay, a tube ride away

In the final week of Unlocking Detention, we are now looking at where we will go from here. And we believe it is a perfect opportunity to publish this speech delivered last month by Jose, from the Freed [...]

2022-10-05T13:54:39+00:00December 18th, 2017|

Life After Detention: A Film

Images courtesy of Scottish Detainee Visitors / Life After Detention The harm caused by detention does not end once a person is released. For many, the trauma of detention, and the struggles with uncertainty, continue. This is the [...]

2022-10-05T13:55:19+00:00December 13th, 2017|

Week 8: #Unlocked17 visits Morton Hall

This is Morton Hall detention centre in Lincolnshire, the focus of the eighth week of the Unlocking Detention tour. Up to 392 people - all men - may be detained here at any one time. It was turned [...]

2022-10-05T13:56:04+00:00December 13th, 2017|

If only everyone could be welcomed as warmly as Paddington…

Jawad Anjum and Steve Rolfe are activists with Global Justice Glasgow, a group of committed people who campaign to tackle the root causes of global poverty and injustice as part of Global Justice Now, a democratic movement in [...]

2022-10-05T14:08:22+00:00December 12th, 2017|

Visiting Dungavel for another year…

This week, #Unlocked17 is visiting Dungavel, Scotland's only detention centre. In this blog, Kate Alexander, Director of Scottish Detainee Visitors (SDV), reflects on another year of visiting Dungavel, and takes us on the journey that visitors make twice a [...]

2022-10-05T14:09:07+00:00December 11th, 2017|

“A Prison For My Heart”

Coming out is often be a nervous and fearful experience - what does it feel like to that in immigration detention? Umar (not his real name) had to do that to protect his life. We are grateful to [...]

2022-10-05T14:09:48+00:00December 8th, 2017|

Putting stock Home Office statements in the stocks

New Freed Voices member, John P.*, was recently released after ten months detained in Morton Hall IRC in Lincolnshire. For this #Unlocked17 special, he sat down with Detention Action to go through his thoughts on some of the [...]

2022-10-05T14:10:30+00:00December 7th, 2017|
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