Unlocked

Unlocked2022-10-03T12:19:08+00:00

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.

Rebuilding a life after detention

This blog comes from Indre Lechtimiakyte. Indre is originally from Lithuania and has been working as a caseworker and coordinator of the Ex-Detainee Project for Samphire since 2016. Prior to [...]

By |December 14th, 2018|Categories: Unlocked|Comments Off on Rebuilding a life after detention

Week 7: #Unlocked18 visits Morton Hall

Week 7 of #Unlocked18 took us to Morton Hall IRC, near the small village of Swinderby in Lincolnshire. Surrounded by fields and villages, it is one of the UK's most isolated [...]

By |December 13th, 2018|Categories: Unlocked|Comments Off on Week 7: #Unlocked18 visits Morton Hall

‘If I don’t come back, call my lawyer’: Practical solidarity for people at risk of detention

Luke Butterly works for Right to Remain, a UK-based human rights organisation challenging injustice in our asylum and immigration systems. This blog has been reposted with kind permission from Red Pepper. [...]

By |December 13th, 2018|Categories: Unlocked|Comments Off on ‘If I don’t come back, call my lawyer’: Practical solidarity for people at risk of detention

Hidden in plain sight: Working with trafficked people in detention

Content warning: torture. Image by @Carcazan This blog comes from Beatrice Grasso, Detention Outreach Manager with JRS UK, who recently published a report on the indefinite detention of trafficking survivors. While JRS’s [...]

By |December 13th, 2018|Categories: Unlocked|Comments Off on Hidden in plain sight: Working with trafficked people in detention

When a ‘good’ inspection report is bad news

This blog comes from Kate Alexander, Director of Scottish Detainee Visitors, who support people detained in Dungavel immigration removal centre (IRC) and tweet at @SDVisitors The latest inspection report on [...]

By |December 12th, 2018|Categories: Unlocked|Comments Off on When a ‘good’ inspection report is bad news

Because of detention | In spite of detention

Content warning: torture. This contribution comes from the Life After Detention group (LAD) based in Glasgow and facilitated by Scottish Detainee Visitors. Between them, members of LAD have lost 4 [...]

By |December 11th, 2018|Categories: Unlocked|Comments Off on Because of detention | In spite of detention

Separation and abandonment as a result of detention

This blog comes from A. Panquang, a member of Freed Voices (@FreedVoices) and Detention Forum volunteer.  Detaining anybody simply means separating them from their familiar surroundings; away from friends, family and community. [...]

By |December 11th, 2018|Categories: Unlocked|Comments Off on Separation and abandonment as a result of detention

For many autumns to come

This blog was written by Mishka, a member of Freed Voices, a group of experts-by-experience committed to speaking out about the realities of immigration detention in the UK. And Mishka [...]

By |December 10th, 2018|Categories: Unlocked|Comments Off on For many autumns to come

‘The stain of detention will haunt us for the rest of our lives, but I don’t want it to define us’: Experts-by-experience give evidence to the JCHR inquiry

This blog comes from A. Panquang, a member of Freed Voices (@FreedVoices) and Detention Forum volunteer. On 28 November, A gave evidence to the Joint Committee on Human Rights’ inquiry into immigration [...]

By |December 8th, 2018|Categories: Unlocked|Comments Off on ‘The stain of detention will haunt us for the rest of our lives, but I don’t want it to define us’: Experts-by-experience give evidence to the JCHR inquiry

Week 6: #Unlocked18 visits Harmondsworth and Colnbrook

From the 26 November - 2 December, Unlocking Detention visited Colnbrook and Harmondsworth, the two detention centres next to Heathrow Airport. Here, a few hundred metres from the runway, well over [...]

By |December 6th, 2018|Categories: Unlocked|Comments Off on Week 6: #Unlocked18 visits Harmondsworth and Colnbrook
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