Opelo Kgari and her mother have lived in the UK for 14 years – since Opelo was just 13. For almost three months they’ve been detained at Yarl’s Wood detention centre, uncertain of their future. Opelo was detained in January 2018 following a routine ‘signing’ appointment at her local immigration office in Stoke-on-Trent. This is… Read more »
A collective of grassroots groups is mobilising for a rally outside Yarl’s Wood immigration detention centre on Saturday 24 March, in solidarity with the #HungerForFreedom strikers inside. Hundreds of people will surround the notorious detention centre in Bedfordshire, calling for the place to be closed, the people to be released and for an end to… Read more »
This Wednesday 21st March will mark one full month since people inside Yarl’s Wood began their strike actions. On 21st February, 120 people detained at Yarl’s Wood detention centre in Bedfordshire started a hunger strike. Since then, strikers have been refusing food, refusing to work, and refusing to use services inside detention, with a list… Read more »
By Lauren Cape-Davenhill, These Walls Must Fall campaigns coordinator At the University and College Union International Woman’s Day rally in Liverpool last week, the These Walls Must Fall banner made its way through sunny streets with about 400 passionate and noisy academics, students and university staff. On arriving by the waterfront just down the road… Read more »
An inspection report published today reveals the dark, unacceptable nature of immigration detention in the UK. Harmondsworth is Europe’s largest immigration detention centre, with a capacity to hold up to 676 people for the purposes of immigration administration and enforcement. A new inspection report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons has found “considerable failings” in safety… Read more »
On Wednesday 28 February, over 200 people braved the freezing weather and took to the streets in London in solidarity with the men and women on hunger strike in Yarl’s Wood immigration detention centre. They gathered outside the Home office headquarters. Solidarity actions also took place outside of Home Office buildings in Leeds and Glasgow.… Read more »
On Wednesday 21st of February a large group of women and men held in Yarl’s Wood Immigration Detention Centre organised a coordinated 3-day hunger strike. The demands have been posted on the Detained Voices website. This post first appeared on the SOAS Detainee Support website. The demands of the strikers include: Amnesty for those who… Read more »
Around 100 women in Yarl’s Wood immigration detention centre are protesting at their continuing incarceration. Their demands are listed below. The protest coincided with a visit to the notorious centre by Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abboot MP. You can read a report of that visit at the Guardian here. For up to date info and… Read more »
Campaigners are working with their local elected representatives to pass council motions against immigration detention. Here are some tips on getting a council to support the campaign in this way
A great way of raising awareness of detention as a local issue, and showing that local people are against it, is getting a letter published in a local newspaper. Here’s some tips.
You can use this template letter to raise the issue of immigration detention with your MP. Remember, it’s best to send personalised letters to your MP – wherever possible using local, individual examples of the impact that immigration detention has – so feel free to add and amend to this letter! You can use the… Read more »
This weekend (9th-11th Feb), Right to Remain will be at Lush Oxford Street raising money for the These Walls Must Fall campaign! In the run up to Valentine’s Day, we will be in the largest Lush Shop in the world explaining our work and selling special edition Hand & Body Moisturiser Charity Pots. A key… Read more »