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 [...]
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 [...]
“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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
New BID report on the hidden use of prisons for immigration detention
This week, Bail Immigration for Detainees (BID) published a new report 'Denial of Justice: the hidden use of UK prisons for immigration detention'. As of 31 December 2013, 2,796 people [...]
“This is not what I was expecting. This prison is scary”: HMP The Verne
By Ben du Preez from Detention Action, with testimony from Jamal who was detained in HMP The Verne. Detention Action is a member of the Detention Forum. On 24th March [...]
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 [...]
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. [...]
Shining a light on the inhumanity of the current system
By Ben du Preez from Detention Action. Last Saturday I attended Right to Remain's annual conference in Bethnal Green, London. Bringing together local advocacy groups, grassroots activists and self-advocates from [...]
Visiting someone in detention
Many years ago I used to visit a man in Harmondsworth. He was from North Africa. He made it to the airport in the UK, on his way to another [...]