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.
When hope is in short supply
Collaboration is all the rage, particularly among groups and charitable foundations who are looking for the magic solution that can achieve social justice – but what does it mean? How [...]
‘I lost my religion, my family and my country, but I found hope’.
Mustapha is a young ambassador on the Red Cross’ Surviving to Thriving project, which supports refugees and asylum seekers aged 11 to 25 in Birmingham, Leeds and Peterborough who don't [...]
Impressions of Morton Hall
Morton Hall immigration detention centre is one of the lesser known centres. This blog shares some of the impressions of this particular detention centre which are hard to capture by [...]
My detention clothes
Safiyyah (not her real name) has lived in the UK with her family over ten years. She explains how she was suddenly detained with her sister at a reporting centre, [...]
Let’s talk about Tinsley House
While Brook House immigration detention centre has achieved a certain level of notoriety after an investigative BBC Panorama documentary hit the news in 2017, a nearby centre, Tinsley House, is [...]
Welcome to this year’s Unlocking Detention!
In this, our sixth year, many of you will already be familiar with Unlocking Detention. But by way of introduction for newcomers, Unlocking Detention is a ‘virtual tour’ of the [...]
In Three Words
Can you describe immigration detention in three words? As part of Unlocking Detention 2019, #Unlocked19, we are asking people to take part in ‘In Three Words’ action to unlock the gates of [...]
Week 8: #Unlocked18 visits Dungavel
During week 8, the final full week of Unlocking Detention 2018, we visited Dungavel IRC, in Scotland. Dungavel is very isolated: more than 30 miles from Glasgow, 14 miles from [...]
Your guide to #Unlocked18
#Unlocked18 marked the 5th year of Unlocking Detention, our virtual 'tour' of the UK's immigration detention estate. Whether you followed the tour from the beginning or you're just joining us [...]
On International Migrants Day – reasserting the humanity and dignity of people in immigration detention
Image by@Carcazan After weeks of our virtual ‘tour’ of detention centres which began in October, Unlocking Detention ends today, on International Migrants Day. People who are in immigration detention generally [...]
“It is only an accident of fate that I was born in the UK.” Interview with Baroness Hamwee about her detention reform work
Image by @Carcazan K.A., an expert-by-experience, interviewed Baroness Hamwee, a long-term advocate for detention reform in the House of Lords. She was recently named as a Detention Forum Champions, recognising [...]
Life after closure: The experiences of the Verne Visitors Group
This blog comes from Ruth Jacobson, a committee member of the Verne Visitors Group (VVG). VVG was established in 2014 to support people detained in The Verne immigration removal centre [...]