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 6: #Unlocked17 visits Campsfield House
The focus of this week's #Unlocked17 tour was Campsfield House, near Oxford airport. It has been an immigration detention centre for almost a quarter of a century - a 24th anniversary [...]
Ten years on: reflections on a decade working on the injustice of detention
Immigration detention and the detention estate sometimes appear permanent and unchanging. However, underneath the surface, things are changing. Tamsin Alger, Casework and Policy Manager at Detention Action, looks back at [...]
Five guys
Reflections on indefinite detention are often framed in the singular, as personal and introspective testimonies. In this special piece for Unlocking Detention, however, Mishka from Freed Voices, sketches five guys that shaped [...]
“When I first visited someone in immigration detention I knew I must speak out”
Immigration detention is an important issue for many Friends (Quakers). Bridget Walker, who is part of the Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network, details the conditions she witnessed and those endured [...]
“Young arrivers” caught in immigration detention
Dan Godshaw (@DanGodshaw) has worked for NGOs on migrant advocacy and support for 10 years. He has visited people held at Brook House IRC as well as supporting Gatwick Detainees Welfare [...]
Time After Time: music from Campsfield House detention centre
In this blog, Ruth Nicholson describes a day of Music In Detention's songwriting workshops in Campsfield House. Ruth is a musician, and a volunteer both for Music In Detention (MID) and [...]
Week 5: #Unlocked17 Visits The Verne
From the 13th - 19th November, #Unlocked17 visited The Verne, a remote detention centre on the edge of Dorset, which is scheduled to close at the end of this year. With nearly [...]
Slave Wages: How Our Clients Shone a Light on Detention Centre Exploitation
Toufique Hossain, Director of Public Law at Duncan Lewis Solicitors, specialises in challenging Government policy and practice in asylum and immigration law, with a particular focus on unlawful detention policies. [...]
WORKSHOP 11 DEC, GLASGOW – Oral histories of immigration detention: ethical approaches in research and activism
Oral histories of immigration detention: ethical approaches in research and activism What does it mean to be involved in anti-detention activism? How should researchers work with people with experience [...]
Detained for sleeping rough
Increased detention and deportation of EU citizens from the UK has been in the news for some time, especially in the context of debates surrounding Brexit. NELMA has been working with EU [...]
Walls of resistance
This piece is written for Unlocking Detention by ‘Jose’ of the Freed Voices group (the author’s name has been altered to protect their identity). 'Jose' was detained in Campsfield detention centre. [...]
#Unlocked17 Parliamentary Meeting on Immigration Detention
On the morning of Thursday 16th November, MPs and peers, experts-by-experience and others campaigning for detention reform gathered in parliament for a meeting on immigration detention. The meeting comes after [...]