Detention Forum: Unlocking Detention

22.10.2018: In the last year, over 26,000 people were detained in the UK under immigration powers.

There is no time limit on how long people can be detained under immigration powers in the UK. That means that people are held in prison-like conditions with no idea when they will be released. There is plenty of evidence documenting the harm that this causes to those detained, and to their families and communities.

Many people are unaware that this is taking place today, in the UK, in their name. Detention centres are often remote and hard-to-reach. People held in immigration detention are isolated, often hundreds of miles from their homes, friends and family. And unless you are detained, or know someone who is, you are very unlikely to ever visit one of these centres.

Unlocking Detention is a ‘virtual tour’ of the UK’s immigration detention estate. Its aim is to shine a spotlight on the hidden world of immigration detention. It uses Twitter, Facebook and a website to ‘unlock’ the gates of immigration detention centres.

This year’s tour begins on 22nd October and runs until 18th December 2018.

You can join the tour by following @DetentionForum and #Unlocked18 on Twitter.

You can also like Unlocking Detention on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/unlockingdetention/

To find out more, visit www.unlocked.org.uk.