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.
Q&A with Siarhei in Campsfield House IRC
This week, Unlocking Detention has been ‘visiting’ Campsfield House detention centre in Oxfordshire. The Duncan Lewis Public Law, Civil Litigation and Immigration teams put us in touch with Siarhei, who [...]
Week 4: #Unlocked18 visits Yarl’s Wood
From the 12th - 18th November, #Unlocked18 visited Yarl's Wood IRC in Bedford. It was a packed week, with new content every day alongside new graphics and illustrations. Also this week, Sanctuary [...]
Campsfield closing: A history of resistance
Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre opened 25 years ago this month. In this second part of a two-part blog, a campaigner from Campaign to Close Campsfield looks back at the local [...]
Looking back at #Unlocked15: “the involvement of experts-by-experience has always been one of the most meaningful parts of the project”
Unlocking Detention has been the result of so many different people's efforts. In this #Unlocked18 blog, Mishka and Red at Freed Voices (@FreedVoices) interview Lisa Matthews, Coordinator at Right to [...]
Campsfield closing: How did we get here, and what next?
Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre opened 25 years ago this month. In this first part of a two-part blog, a campaigner from Campaign to Close Campsfield looks back at its history [...]
Eight times in detention: Why?
This contribution is a collaboration between women detained in Yarl’s Wood detention centre and the Yarl’s Wood Befrienders. These words and images were produced at one of the weekly 'drop [...]
“Every day, they used to walk in and pick somebody”: Living with the uncertainty of detention and removal
Content warning: suicide and self-harm. This contribution comes from Bristol Free Voice, a citizen journalism project facilitating a safe platform for media for refugees and asylum seekers, to challenge the [...]
Snow: Visiting in Yarl’s Wood
Image by Vee Travers, a volunteer with the Yarl's Wood Befrienders This piece is written by Ali Brumfitt about their experience visiting as a volunteer befriender for Yarl’s Wood Befrienders [...]
“For me, Yarl’s Wood was another torture”
Content warning: rape, self-harm, suicide This piece comes from Gabby (not her real name), an activist campaigning against immigration detention in the UK. She was detained in Yarl’s Wood twice [...]
Week 3: Short-term holding facilities and prisons
Most weeks, Unlocking Detention visits a specific detention centre. Last week was a little different. From the 4th-11th November, Unlocking Detention focused on the hundreds of people held under immigration [...]
Resisting state violence: The Yarl’s Wood hunger strike
This blog comes from Fidelis Chebe, Project Director at Migrant Action. Migrant Action is a small organisation based in Leeds providing information, guidance, advocacy support and direct practical assistance to [...]
Theresa: Letter from a hunger-striker
Content warning: suicide. Image by @Carcazan This letter was sent to the Duncan Lewis Public Law team by Theresa (not her real name), a young mother, from Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal [...]