Posted on

From a migrant to a son of a migrant, the new Home Secretary

30 April 2018

There is usually a moment of hesitation when a media story about something that you have known all along begins to turn into something that looks more like a proper media – and political – frenzy. The truth is those of us working with migrants with irregular status aren’t generally used to society being on our side.

For quite some time, small local groups on the ground have been tearing their hair out trying find solutions for people of the Windrush generation whose presence in the UK was suddenly questioned: they could not prove they were British in a country they thought was theirs. The stories I heard often started with just normal life events like applying for a new job, going on holiday, attending hospital appointments, something that appear pretty mundane, and ended up the persons being in debt, homeless and so on – like the news that appeared in the newspaper.

It was Hostile Environment policies that were turning lives of significant number of people a total nightmare. The impact of cuts to legal aid for immigration advice was making matters worse: people who have lost jobs and were denied benefits were told to get legal advice, which costs a fortune.

That ‘the Home Office is making people’s lives a misery‘ normally does not make it into the news, let alone start a ferocious debate in Parliament. Look, for example, at thousands of people locked up as “immigration detainees” in prison-like conditions day in day out: this doesn’t make into the news unless someone dies or there is a large scale hunger-strike.

So it was genuinely surprising that the Windrush scandal became the newspaper headline day after day over a week and the MPs, including those who voted to enact Immigration Act 2014 and 2016, started attacking Hostile Environment policies and the Home Office’s target driven cruelty and its chaotic system. This resulted in Amber Rudd having to resign from her position as the Home Secretary: the Home Office’s indefensible treatment of individuals, including citizens – deliberately made hostile under the suite of Hostile Environment policies – was out in the open.

Watching all this unfold from his limbo state, one of my fellow migrant advocates who was detained for some time told me of his disappointment that indefinite immigration detention is not generating the same amount of anger as the Windrush scandal. But social change takes different routes – often unexpected ones. Can we take this as a moment that society has finally had enough of brutal, violent immigration system that tears families and communities apart? Forcing people to live in fear of arrest and detention and possible deportation?

And the key question remains – will this change anything at all?

What’s clear is that basic trust between the Home Office and society has now been lost – and the Home Office needs to be able to demonstrate that it is capable of treating people with dignity and respecting their rights – quickly.

The new Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, has a mammoth task of reforming the Home Office, which has no reputation to speak of right now after the Windrush scandal. Needless to say, a change of Home Secretary so far has meant nothing in terms of the UK’s immigration system, Hostile Environment policies or its immigration detention system. (Well, this is Day 1 so perhaps I am expecting too much?)

As I write this, I am reading his interview in which Mr Javid says he wants to ensure that ‘we have an immigration policy that is fair, it treats people with respect, and with decency’. I welcome his intention. Our immigration system cannot be reformed in a piece-meal manner: that means that it cannot be reformed without changing detention system.

In terms of our policy recommendations for Mr Javid, you already know what I am going to say, and I am happy to tell him our vision in more detail. My colleagues in the migration sector will be, no doubt, making other specific recommendations to Mr Javid: I do hope that he will consider carefully what the migration sector and migrants have to say.

In a nutshell, the UK’s detention system needs a radical overhaul, starting with an introduction of a 28 day time limit on immigration detention for all. And there must be a safeguard that ensures no vulnerable people are detained. The current excessive use of detention must be reduced drastically and detention centres closed down over time, through a development a wider range of community-based alternatives that supports individuals to be able to conclude their immigration cases outside detention.

The fact that Mr Javid is a son of a migrant is likely to be highlighted prominently by everyone, including by the man himself. Whether he will be the one to end the UK’s notorious practice of indefinite detention, following recommendations of many professional bodies, including the Bar Council, the British Medical Association and other domestic and international human rights bodies, remains unknown.

What’s known is that strong representation for a time limit will be made by quite a few politicians, including Andrew Mitchell, for example, who visited Brook House detention centre last week.

Indeed, it will be an irony for a son of a migrant to command one of Europe’s biggest detention estates, incarcerating nearly 30,000 migrants a year with no time limit. Or will he be the one to spearhead a move to reduce the use of detention through humane community-based alternatives that saves money? The jury is now out.

If the Windrush scandal was to be a real watershed moment for migration justice movement, I don’t think it will be triggered by a change of the Home Secretary though. It could be triggered, however, by people and communities who were affected by the Windrush scandal and those who were outraged by what Hostile Environment aka Compliant Environment policies does to people, standing up for other people who are targeted by these policies. Their next move is far more important for us than who runs the Home Office in terms of the future of migration justice movement.

One thing I would strongly recommend Mr Javid to do in the meantime – from a migrant to a son of a migrant – is to involve migrants with direct experience of immigration detention in detention reform discussions and programme. That will be the first step that Mr Javid can take which shows the Home Office can change and that change is genuine. Oh by the way, I have also put together a short reading list for Mr Javid, to whom I wish Happy Reading.

Eiri Ohtani @EiriOhtani

Project Director, The Detention Forum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on

#HungerforFreedom – opening a new chapter in the history of challenging immigration detention?

#HungerforFreedom – opening a new chapter in the history of challenging immigration detention?

Today, we have heard that the hunger strike that started in Yarl’s Wood detention centre in Bedford a month ago ended. But the real news is that the strike itself will be continuing and that #HungerforFreedom has accelerated, intensified and expanded the ongoing anti-detention movement that has been bubbling up for years. 

We all need to acknowledge the personal cost that these women have borne during the strike and incarceration they will continue to face for an unknown length of time. We need to think about how the UK’s detention system – and the migration policy that informs this practice of mass, indefinite, routine incarceration of “unwanted” migrants – drove them to this measure and how the whole system must change. 

For me, this episode, yet again, raised the issue of voice (among many others). It was infuriating, but not surprising, to witness the women’s struggle to have their demands properly heard and understood by parliamentarians, public commentators and some in the media.

Here is me ranting, again, about this:

And here’s Baroness Williams of Trafford suggesting that the women may not be eating for “dietary or religious reasons”. I would have liked to hear the tone with which Noble Lords said “Oh!” in chorus. (You can read the full debate here.):

Those in power tend to think that by improving detention conditions, detention can be made ok. No one is saying that conditions within detention centres are perfect – there is always room for improvement as any of the inspection reports by Prisons Inspectors testify. But the narratives and headlines that reduce demands for a radical systemic change down to complaints about conditions are demeaning. It is as if in some people’s view, migrants are incapable of thinking beyond their immediate reality or their personal circumstances, that we are not intellectually equipped to analyse the policy context that degrades us and that we have no power to organise ourselves, work towards and build a better world for everyone. That sort of outdated view must be abandoned immediately.

There are certain things about #HungerforFreedom that advanced the anti-detention movement: it joined the dots to create a powerful story of change, that, I hope, is going to continue.

1) People outside the detention centre, some already involved in the movement against detention and some new people, joined forces in a timely, supportive and organised manner. They also helped to amplify what the strikers are demanding: this sometimes included providing basic education to people who are new to the issue, correcting some misconceptions about who is affected by immigration detention and showing visibly to the world that they stand with them.

2) The strike triggered and responded to a series of interventions by politicians and parliamentary committees. There was, of course, a high profile visit to the centre by the Shadow Home Secretary, Diane Abbott, where she met with the hunger strikers on 23 February 2018. 

3) This prompted Diane Abbott to clarify the strikers’ demands and ask an Urgent Question in the House of Commons on 6 March. A number of MPs from different parties, who have long been advocating for change, spoke in support of detention reform and sought accountability from the Immigration Minister. 

4) When no satisfactory answer came from the Immigration Minister, the Home Affairs Select Committee then upped their gear, extending the scope of the ongoing Brook House inquiry to include examining the operations of Morton Hall, Yarls Wood detention centres, and indeed for the whole of the detention estate. This is a logical step: only last week, a scathing inspection report on Harmondsworth detention centre was published.

One of the Committee’s members, Stuart McDonald MP, also visited the strikers who had asked to meet with the Chair of the Committee before the oral evidence session on 20 March 2018 took place. 

In addition, the Committee has now conceded that they will need to involve in the inquiry process people who are currently in detention and people who have been released from detention.

When the first oral evidence session on Brook House did not involve a single person with lived experience of detention and focused primarily on the conduct of G4S and how much profit they might have been making from their operations in Brook House, Freed Voices made a searing submission to Committee, stating: 

The Committee’s belated realisation that the problems of immigration detention are not confined to specific centres is welcome. Also their acceptance that migrants must be part of the debate is an important step. 

This is not the end of the story though. 

We need to ensure that the inquiry’s focus goes beyond the operation within the centres to the heart of the matter: why does the UK continue to operate this mass, routine, indefinite administrative detention of migrants? Why has the Home Office not significantly reformed and reduced the UK’s use of detention, as promised?

At the same time, we should not stop what we are doing, just because the Home Affairs Select Committee decided to widen its scope of inquiry.  Sometimes inquiries, reports and investigations give us a false sense that significant change will happen – but they are only tools that can help us argue our case better. How will we ensure that any recommendations for detention reform will be implemented?

In the meantime, people affected by immigration detention and communities are standing up, demanding change, continuing #HungerforFreedom. I was asked to share the notice about this Saturday’s demonstration – which is attached below.

As for politicians, who also want to see change happen – please step up, speak to other politicians in your party and across party lines and work with us for radical detention reform. And people, if you are reading this, make sure your MP knows that you want them speak up on this issue. 

Eiri Ohtani @Eiri Ohtani

Project Director, The Detention Forum

Yarl’s Wood demonstration – Saturday, 24th of March

On 21st February 2018, 120 people detained at Yarl’s Wood detention centre in Bedfordshire started a protest which has become known as #HungerForFreedom. Since then, strikers have been taking part in a variety of protest actions including refusing food, refusing to work, and refusing to use services inside detention. They have issued a list of demands against the detention system and conditions (read the demands here). Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott has been to Yarl’s Wood to meet with the strikers, as have the Home Affairs Select Committee.

There have been a series of vigils in support of the strikers in London, across the UK, and internationally. This Wednesday 21st March is national Day of Action, where events are taking place in various cities across the UK.

On Saturday, 24th of March, an alliance of groups will be demonstrating outside Yarl’s Wood Detention Centre in Bedfordshire. Now is a crucial time to show solidarity with detainees, which is why we are encouraging people to attend the event on the 24th.

Two coaches have been organised to leave from Central London, and will be leaving from the London Bridge area at 9.45am – further details will be announced closer to the date, and everyone who has signed up for a ticket will be receiving a follow up email with all necessary information, including a contact phone number for on the day logistics. If you have any questions, please contact sistersuncut@gmail.com.

Tickets range from £5.18 – £10.26 depending on your ability to pay. There are free tickets for those unable to pay.

Coach booking information can be found here: https://sistersuncut.eventsmart.com/shutdownyw/sisters-shut-yarls-wood/

Facebook event info can be found here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/185237595327196/

 
 
 
Posted on

Collateral – A BBC drama shining a light on the secret world of indefinite immigration detention

Collateral – A BBC drama shining a light on the secret world of indefinite immigration detention

15 March 2018

Immigration detention dramatised on TV? Sylvia Gauthereau, one of the Detention Forum volunteers, reviews a BBC drama, Collateral.

Immigration detention featured quite centrally on the four-part series Collateral. Produced and shown by the BBC, it was broadcast on BBC2 last month. Media attention has grown quite significantly lately over this issue that remains largely hidden from the public view so, is this a sign that time is changing? 

The series written by David Hare followed the investigation of a detective inspector into the apparent random murder of a pizza delivery man. As the plot developed, the police stumbled upon the world of people smuggling. After the murder, the victim’s two sisters, Mona and Fatima, who came to the UK with him, are sent to an immigration removal centre whilst enquiries are made over their identity and country of origin.

As the sisters approach the fictive centre of Harlsfleet, Fatima looks at the barbed wires and heavy gate, wondering where they are. “Are we in prison?” she asks upon arrival. “How long are we in there for?”. To which the “custody officer” exclaims: “Ah well if we knew that! No one is this place knows when they are getting their ticket.” Ticket? Airline ticket, to send you home.

It was interesting to see that writers touched upon the common complaints around immigration detention such as the isolated location, the complexity of a visit which involved a tedious procedure to follow. “But I thought we were the police!” cries one of officers on the case. To which the detective leading the investigation replies “What are they afraid of? Do they think I work for Panorama and wear a camera under my f*****g hat?”. There were also some good observations of the common responses to those complaints. For instance, after a visit to the centre, the detective laments on how depressing the place was. Her colleague replies: “What’s depressing about it? It’s clean, it’s warm, it’s decently run”.

There were further mentions over the indefinite element of immigration detention. In an exchange with another woman held at the centre, as she is still trying to understand what this place is, Fatima learns that she’s been in this ‘removal’ centre for two years. So much for removal. The woman then explains how she has lived in the country since she was three for 30 years until it was decided her papers were not valid. Fatima is distraught and puzzled, how can this be? Further comments included “Prison is not that bad as in prison you know when you are getting out”.

This is a fictional drama of course but it has a real life feel to it and in a post-Brexit Britain, it made socio-politically relevant points. The current approach toward refugees and migrants is casting a large shadow over the functioning of everything. There is mistrust between agencies and sometimes between officers who all come to the job with various degrees of prejudice.  The writer was able to capture this exceptionally well, delivered by a talented cast who gave life to the highly sensitive narrative that is immigration detention. 

You can catch up with the four full episodes on BBC i-Player as well as on Netflix.

Sylvia tweets @CricklewoodMum

 

Posted on

Prison Inspectors yet again decry the lack of a time limit on immigration detention – Harmondsworth

13 March 2018

Prison Inspectors yet again decry the lack of a time limit on immigration detention – Harmondsworth

Large numbers of migrant men detained indefinitely in prison-like conditions at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre were found to have mental health needs and were considered vulnerable by the Home Office, according to an inspection report published today. Prison Inspectors also criticised, for the third consecutive inspection on Harmondsworth, deteriorating standards of safety and respect for those held inside Europe’s largest detention centre, near Heathrow Airport.   

Harmondworth IRC, which detains up 676 migrants, is built to Category B standards and managed by Mitie Care and Custody under the Home Office contract. It is one of the eight long-term residential immigration detention centres in the UK. The UK is the only country in Europe which detains migrants indefinitely without a time limit and practices mass, routine, detention of migrants for administrative reasons. In 2017, a total of 27,331 people entered detention. 53% of people leaving detention were released back into the community.

According to the inspection report, two-thirds of people detained at Harmondsworth felt unsafe. A major reason for this was uncertainty over their immigration cases. Insufficient staffing levels, incarceration in a prison-like environment, stress, frustration and the anger of others detained, drug use at the centre and a recent suicide at the centre were also cited as reasons for feeling unsafe.  

There was routine use of handcuffs and strip-search for those taken to the isolation unit which was inappropriate. Those who had appointments outside the centre were also handcuffed, which was described as ‘excessive’ by Prison Inspectors. Mice infestation, endemic bed bugs and dirty and poorly ventilated living areas were also noted.

Prison Inspectors found safeguarding procedures which are supposed to protect the most vulnerable to be wanting in a number of ways. Even with evidence of torture, vulnerable people’s detention was maintained and continued. People’s mental health needs, including post traumatic stress, were not addressed adequately. Potential trafficking victims were not referred to an appropriate channel and unable to receive necessary assistance, as many staff members were unfamiliar with the referral mechanism.  

During the previous six months to the inspection, 55 incidents of self-harm were recorded and 218 men were identified as at risk of suicide or self-harm at Harmondsworth. In some cases, support was not provided promptly enough: the Inspection team describes an occasion where they requested a very distressed detained person to be placed on suicide-watch but no support was provided until an hour later when the person was already making a noose.

Repeating again their call for a time limit on the length of detention following their previous Harmondsworth inspection report, Prison Inspectors said they had found it ‘unacceptable’ that 23 men had been detained for over a year at the time of their inspection and one had been detained for four and a half years. It was also revealed that even when the Home Office’s own case progression panel issued recommendations for release, these were frequently refused by other Home Office staff. At the time of inspection, sixty-one per cent of the population at Harmondsworth had been detained for longer than one month.

Eiri Ohtani, Project Director of the Detention Forum said:

‘This is not the first time that Prison Inspectors have slammed the UK government’s policy of indefinite detention without a time limit and it is very unlikely to be the last. They recommended a strict time limit on detention after their inspection at Yarl’s Wood last year, yet there is no sign that the government is prepared to introduce the necessary change.  

That the Inspectors found extremely high levels of vulnerability of detained men, including victims of torture, incarcerated at Harmondworth should ring alarm bells to those responsible for the UK’s detention policy. 2017 was the deadliest year in the history of immigration detention with so many deaths: we fear nothing has been done to address this mounting crisis of harm in immigration detention.

While the outcome of Stephen Shaw’s second review into immigration detention remains unknown, there is abundance of evidence that reform is not taking place and detention remains as problematic as ever. We urge the Home Office to promptly and proactively set out its plan to significantly reduce the immigration detention now, starting with a 28 day time limit, ending locking up of vulnerable people and implementation of a wider range of community-based alternatives to detention.’

End.

You can read the Harmondsworth inspection report here. HMIP’s news release about the report is here.

Posted on

The Shadow Home Secretary commits the Labour Party to ending indefinite detention – our response

21 February 2018

The Detention Forum response to this morning’s speech by the Shadow Home Secretary, Diane Abbott MP

Eiri Ohtani, Project Director of the Detention Forum said: 

“The Shadow Home Secretary’s speech today, committing the Labour Party to end indefinite immigration detention, resonates with many migrants, faith leaders, parliamentarians and civil society organisations who have long been advocating for a 28 day time limit.

A vision for a humane approach to migration must include removing deprivation of liberty as much as possible from the immigration system and closing down more detention centres. Developing and implementing a wider range of community-based alternatives to detention is not only possible but also necessary, if this vision is to become reality.

We look forward to working with all parties to bring humanity, dignity and fairness back to UK immigration policy.”  

=======================================================================================

Notes to the editor

The Detention Forum is a network of over 30 organisations who are working together to challenge the UK’s use of immigration detention, hosted by the Refugee Council.

 

 

Posted on

Will the new Minister listen to us?

Will the new Minister listen to us and work with us to change this immigration detention system?

While 2017 ended with a welcome news of the closure of the Verne detention centre, 2018 opened with a change in our detention advocacy landscape as a new Immigration Minister entered the scene. It was about two years   ago that the then Immigration Minister, James Brokenshire, promised detention reform in response to the first Shaw Review. Since then, we have had four different Ministers in a quick succession: James Brokenshire was followed by Robert Goodwill, Brandon Lewis and now Caroline Nokes.

Keeping immigration detention reform on the agenda for politicians and the Home Office can be challenging, particularly when faced with the mixture of this extreme fluidity at the leadership level and the government’s migration policy characterised by deliberate hostility against migrants. It was in this context of change at the Home Office, the announcement that the publication of the government white paper on post-Brexit immigration policy will be delayed, the second Shaw Review into immigration detention which is currently ongoing and, of course, upcoming Immigration Bill that the Detention Forum members met last week.

Clearly, we must ensure that the new Minister understands fully the urgency of a radical detention reform. She needs to understand the need for a time limit on immigration detention and that the scale and number of immigration detention must go down drastically and swiftly. She needs to understand that these changes have already been recommended by the parliamentary inquiry into the use of immigration detention several years ago, the first review of immigration detention Stephan Shaw conducted, a cross-party alliance of MPs and peers and numerous others. 

In particular, I think it is imperative that the Minister hears from migrants, their families, friends and supporters how immigration detention damages lives and how they wish to see the whole system changed. We have been told that the Minister has already visited two of the detention cetnres and was planning to visit Yarls Wood. Whether she will be speaking to those people who are directly affected by immigration detention remains unknown: personally I can’t think of a better way for a new Minister to get to grips with the reality of immigration detention.  

After the Detention Forum quarterly meeting last week, I have no doubt that our collective voice challenging immigration detention will continue to grow. Over the last 9 years, I have had the privilege of meeting with our members every quarter and I have seen them work closely together and others outside the Detention Forum to build much-needed momentum for detention reform, using all the tools they have at their disposal and with such energy. In fact, more and more of us are joining our forces together to demand a time limit on immigration detention: one of our members Liberty started #itsabouttime campaign last week which amplifies our ongoing #Time4aTimeLimit campaign, backed by a group of faith leaders calling for the same change. 

Last week was also a reminder that change can’t come sooner. Thousands of migrants remained locked up in remote immigration detention centres, separated from their loved ones, even on Valentine’s Day, not knowing when they will be released.

Detained migrants were forced to be absent from our communities, even when we were celebrating migration during 1 Day Without Us event last Saturday.

Instead of being locked up, migrants can stay in the community with expert support and guidance and pursue their immigration cases. This mass, routine deprivation of liberty can be taken out of the current immigration system. We have so much to do in 2018, beyond ending indefinite detention – so join us, stay connected (follow us @DetentionForum) and take action.

Some actions you can take right now:

  • You can sign Liberty’s petition calling for a 28 day time limit on immigration detention here. 
  • We are looking for volunteers right now. Here’s the advert – spread the word.
  • You can ask your MP to sign this EDM calling for a 28 day time limit, if they haven’t done so yet. 

Eiri Ohtani @EiriOhtani

Project Director, The Detention Forum

 

 

 

 

Posted on

We are looking for enthusiastic, curious and thoughtful people to join our volunteer team!

14 Feb 2018

We are looking for volunteers! If you are interested, please read the text below carefully before applying!

We are particularly keen to hear people from migrant background to make our team even more multinational and involve more migrants in our work. 

We are looking for enthusiastic, curious and thoughtful volunteers who will be part of the Detention Forum’s growing volunteer team, communicating, thinking and acting together in order to trigger a lasting positive change to the UK’s immigration detention system and for those who are affected by it.

You need to have a deep interest in and commitment to migrants rights movement and challenging immigration detention, but you do not need to be immigration detention experts. What’s important to the volunteer team is that we communicate and act in order to change the system, and to do so together with people with lived experience of immigration detention. We give this process a serious thought and we are looking for people who can be part of this process. Essentially, we are trying to strengthen and amplify a narrative of change, which the Detention Forum has been working on since 2009. 

The core tasks of our volunteers include the following:

  • take part in volunteer team discussions about our work, how we are communicating and contribute ideas, thoughts and help, in order to improve how the Detention Forum does its work;
  • ensure our Twitter account (@DetentionForum) is actively disseminating accurate and relevant information about immigration detention and communicate our asks and key message in a way that gathers more support for our call for change (in practical terms, this means volunteers take turns to be responsible for managing our Twitter account one day a week, but this can be done by programming tweets in advance if you prefer);
  • scanning for immigration detention related news to disseminate over Twitter.

Additional tasks our volunteers have conducted in the past include:

  • creating visual material which can be used for our Twitter communication;
  • attending detention-related events and file reports about such events;
  • conducting outreach work to promote Unlocking Detention and organising its blog contribution;
  • helping with parliamentary and other meetings that we organize;
  • writing small pieces of detention-related news which support our asks that we can share with others.

During this recruitment, we are particularly keen to hear from people who:

  • want to use their design/art/creative skills in creating social media material;
  • who are interested in following and reporting on what is happening in Parliament as they interact with our Theory of Change (politics geeks very welcome);
  • have interest in curating news about immigration detention in a way that is relevant to our Theory of Change;
  • have existing writing skills to prepare short commentary pieces that make use of news, data and facts which support our Theory of Change

We need to stress that this is volunteering: it should be fun and rewarding. We take the approach of “we do what we can do” within our volunteer team. This means that we are flexible and we accommodate each other as much as possible. We also rely on each other to inspire each other with our creativity.  

You need to have the following skills/abilities (criteria):

  • Solid experience of working or volunteering in a NGO or in a team;
  • General understanding of immigration detention in the UK (you really don’t need to be an expert!);
  • Experience of doing Internet-based research to find information;
  • Solid experience of using Twitter (you need to have actively used Twitter at least for three months);
  • Demonstrable ability to communicate clearly in English;
  • Ability to work on your own initiative and complete tasks on time;
  • Access to a computer and Internet connection;
  • Between .5 to one day a week that you can spend on this volunteering role, for a period of at least seven month. If you want to contribute more days as a volunteer, that would be ideal;
  • Healthy curiosity in the process of social change and positive outlook;
  • Commitment to work with migrants as equals, not treat people as “case studies”.  

How to apply:

If you are interested in volunteering for us, please send the following to detentionforum@gmail.com by Monday 5 March 2018. Interviews for the short-listed candidates will take place on Thursday 8 March.

  • Your CV (This can be brief and we do not want you to sweat over this. Please remember this is volunteering and not employment, so if you don’t have one and you don’t have time to prepare it, do skip this.);
  • a short covering letter addressing the above points, with details of two referees and confirming that you are available for interview on 8 March.;
  • details of your Twitter account;
  • a short written piece, up to 300 words, on immigration detention (you can write about any topic and theme relating to immigration detention).

If you have any questions regarding this volunteering opportunity, please contact Alice at unlockingdetention@gmail.com.  

Because of our limited resources, we are unable to provide feedback to everyone’s application. We will contact those who are shortlisted for interview on 6 March to invite them to Skype interviews on 8 March.  

About us

The Detention Forum (DF) is an advocacy network of organisations who came together in 2009 to fundamentally challenge the UK’s use of immigration detention which affects undocumented migrants and their communities. Based at the Refugee Council, our part-time Project Director works with members and others to drive and implement its revised Theory of Change (2017-2020) which envisages an opportunity for radical detention reform. Our aim is to significantly reduce the UK’s use of immigration detention and restore dignity of individuals and communities affected by harm of immigration detention. We mobilise the diverse campaigns and voices and coordinate effective parliamentary, policy, campaign and communications activities around clear shared asks and messaging. It has already transformed the narrative around detention which was long-seen as the most difficult to influence.

Our agreed four key asks are: 1. Ending indefinite detention; 2. Ending the detention of vulnerable people; 3. Automatic judicial oversight; 4. Community-based alternatives to detention. Over the years, the Detention Forum has put detention reform on the political agenda. Our lobbying made detention one of the central issues in the passage of the 2016 Immigration Act, resulting in legislative changes including automatic judicial oversight for the first time. All except one of the major political parties have now made manifesto commitments to a time limit, and our asks are central to the calls for reform in parliament. In 2014-15, we supported the crucial All-Party Parliamentary Group detention inquiry and provided much of the evidence that ensured that the report gained cross-party buy-in, managed dissemination of the findings and used it to drive change. The Government responded with its own Shaw Review, which the Government to pledge detention reform in 2016. This is leading to the closure of three detention centres, and a 25% reduction in numbers in detention since 2013. But this is not good enough for us and our work continues. 

Our Project Director works one to two days a week alongside a team of seven volunteers. Our member organisations meet every quarter in London and our Co-ordination Group members communicate with each other regularly, to analyse context, share intelligence and strategise about next steps. We are in the process of putting together a workplan for 2018/19 based on our Theory of Change. 

Our volunteer team is proudly diverse and multinational, made up of people coming from different countries, backgrounds and with unique skills and perspectives. Volunteers play an active part in our collective action and thinking around communications: they manage our Twitter account, take part in meetings, gather information and come up with great ideas for the Detention Forum – and implement them. In 2018/19, we want to expand a range of ways that volunteers can help communicate the work of the Detention Forum and our narrative of change, if our resources level allows this. Our popular annual social media project, Unlocking Detention, is run mostly by our volunteers: the next “tour” is going to start in October 2018.

Communications is always a tricky issue, particularly in the field of migration, human rights and social justice, topics that are politically volatile and polarizing – but we believe communications is a very important part of social change process and needs to be taken seriously. The team is always grapping with this challenge and we often discuss how we should be responding to our ever changing environment. What we want to do – to drive a narrative for change – often seems like more than what we can afford to do in terms of our available resources: but we do our best and try to make our team efforts as exciting as possible.   

Very frustratingly, we cannot afford to have an office so we all work and volunteer form home. Ideally, we want to have more capacity and we are working towards it through fundraising. Lack of office space is clearly a disadvantage because it restricts the amount of time we can spend together to analyse our context and discuss our approach. On a day to day basis, we work largely independently and communicate with each other over emails and Skype, usually once a week. We organize volunteer socials every quarter in London and they are also encouraged to take part in our Quarterly Meetings, though those who are in full-time employment find it difficult to do so. 

Volunteering at the Detention Forum therefore can involve a lot of thinking and mental energy. However, you will get to learn more about immigration detention and you will have a chance to learn how groups like the Detention Forum, its members and other groups around the UK are working towards social justice and dignity for migrants. Join us and be part of the change we want to see.

We look forward to hearing from you.

The Detention Forum team

 

Posted on

Latest Yarl’s Wood inspection report calls for a “strict time limit on the length of detention”

Today, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons have released their report on their most recent independent and unannounced inspection of Yarl’s Wood detention centre.

The centre was last inspected in 2015. This inspection showed some improvements in conditions for the 300 people held there (mostly women, but also also adult family groups and small number of men in the residential short-term holding facility) but also flagged serious concerns about who is being detained, and for how long.

At the time of the inspection, 15 people had been held for between six months and a year and one had recently been held in detention for more than three years. This is unacceptable, and we welcome that the report repeats its recommendation from 2015, calling for a strict time limit on the length of detention.

The report echoes the concerns of our members about the effectiveness of the Adults at Risk policy to protect vulnerable people from detention: 1/5 of those in detention had been assessed by Home Office to be ‘at the higher levels of risk’; in several cases, detention was maintained despite the acceptance of professional evidence of torture.

One of the starkest figures in the report is that nearly 70% of those detained were released back into the community. More humane and less costly community-based alternatives to detention have proved to be successful, leaving little justification for continued mass, long-term detention. The UK continues to detain on a greater scale that most of Europe, with around 30,000 people detained each year – indefinitely.

In response to the report, Ali McGinley, director of AVID, said:

Time and again the  UK’s key statutory monitoring body provides indisputable evidence that the detention system is putting people at risk. We continue to see really vulnerable people in detention despite recent policy changes – clearly the new protections are not working and today’s report substantiates this. The continued detention of torture  survivors and others deemed to be “high risk”, despite government commitment to protect these groups, is indefensible. It is time for these findings to be taken seriously, with actions that move beyond the broken or failed promises of the last few years towards the fundamental reforms so desperately needed, starting with the introduction of a time limit as a matter of urgency. 

Angelic, a  member of the These Walls Must Fall campaigning group in Manchester, who has herself been detained in Yarl’s Wood said:

“Detaining women and releasing them later serves no purpose whatsoever.  Why destroy instead of mending the broken?”

Mishka from Freed Voices: (a group of experts-by-experience on detention who between them have lost over twenty years to the detention system) said:

“Freed Voices welcome this report – it is another round of ammunition in the fight against indefinite detention. But this is also not the first time a HMIP report has called for a time-limit. They have been pushing for reform for decades. Mental health deterioration, abuse, suicide, death – nothing has changed. In reality, the Home Office gets a report like this and they just pick whatever recommendations they want to respond to and they ignore others. The fact they get to ‘choose’ is representative of the problem of impunity across the detention estate. There is no real accountability. Real reform will only come when the Home Office is forced to change. That’s why we want people to get up and fight, and speak-out, and contact their MPs. We welcome reports but we need action.”

Remember! There’s still time to contact your MP and ask them to attend the parliamentary meeting tomorrow.  Read more here.  

Posted on

The closure of the Verne detention centre – our response

10 October 2017

In a letter to key stakeholders, the Home Office has today announced the closure of The Verne Immigration Removal Centre.  It is understood that the centre will be closed at the end of 2017 as ‘part of wider operational planning around the detention estate’ and will be re-purposed back into a prison.  The Verne detention centre opened in February 2015 and has operational capacity of up to 580, detaining male migrants without a time limit.  It is run by HM Prison Service.

In response, Eiri Ohtani, the Project Director of the Detention Forum said:   

“We welcome the closure of The Verne as the first step towards detention reform.  It will mean that there will be 580 less detention bedspaces available after its closure, approximately 20% of current immigration detention capacity in the UK. 

However, a far more fundamental and radical change is overdue.   The ongoing Shaw Review must investigate what wider detention reform measures the Home Office has taken since the original review was published more than 1.5 years ago, urging reduction of immigration detention ‘boldly and without delay’.  

In fact, recent troubling news give us no confidence that serious reform has been taking place.  Three people died in detention over the last month, including the death of a young man through injuries sustained in a suicide attempt.  Just earlier today, it was revealed that the Home Office bent the definition of torture so that it could detain extremely vulnerable survivors of torture, in the flagship ‘Adults at Risk’ policy that purported to reduce detention of vulnerable people. NGOs and lawyers intervened on this occasion and the court ruled this policy unlawful: but it made it clear that the Home Office cannot be trusted to exercise its duty of care to migrants in their custody.  

We believe that it is time that the government clearly outlines a concrete programme of detention reform, that proactively aims to reduce the use of detention and the incalculable harm it causes.  Such a reform programme should start with the introduction of a time limit on detention and a wider range of community based alternatives which protect migrants’ human rights and dignity in the community.  There must also be a transparent monitoring mechanism that tracks progress of the detention reform process and holds the Home Office accountable for their actions.

The public, including migrants, need to see a fair and humane migration governance system that they feel they can trust.  Such trust cannot be built while the current immigration detention policy and practice continue.”

Posted on

Growing support for detention reform – where next?

26 September 2017

Following the death of a Chinese person at Dungavel in Scotland and the Panorama documentary on Brook House near Gatwick Airport, immigration detention is yet again under intense scrutiny.

At the Labour party conference in Brighton, a number of campaigners and supporters have been speaking to politicians and other conference attendees about the need for a time limit on immigration detention.

The Green Party has also recently launched a petition calling for an immediate end to indefinite immigration detention of asylum seekers and migrants and exploration of community based alternatives to detention.  

In the meantime, Members of Scottish Parliament are still denied access to Dungavel detention centre in Scotland, where concern for welfare of those held there is increasing following the death of a Chinese national.  

TK, who was in Dungavel at the time of the Chinese person’s death, published an open letter to the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd.  In the letter, TK said ‘You are doing your work.  Rule is same for all. If a person loses his life then what are the rules for? Rules are meant to keep people safe.  I hope you can understand what I am trying to say.’

After the oral evidence session of the Home Affairs Committee on Brook House, eight people who were detained at the same Detention Centre, including one man whose abuse was captured on camera, are now demanding a public inquiry into the alleged abuse revealed by the Panorama documentary.  

Mishka, a member of Freed Voices a group of people who lost over 20 years of their live to immigration detention, added ‘Ignorance is not an excuse any more. We want to see some real change.’

House of Commons returns on 9 October and Oral Questions (Home Department) will take place on 16 October.  We wait to see if any immigration detention related questions will be put to the Ministers on 16 October.