detention

Immigration detention: a structure of abuse

Published by NCADC on November 11, 2013 | Leave a response

Three stories in the press over the weekend demonstrate the abusive nature of immigration detention, for all involved. In The New Statesman, BID trustee Katharine Sacks-Jones writes of the palpable desperation of detention: Recent reports of sexual abuse at Yarl’s Wood shine a small spotlight on the otherwise invisible world of immigration detention. They detail how guards preyed on isolated women, subjecting them to unwanted advances, using their positions of power to coerce them into sexual acts. Shocking yes. But sadly not much of a surprise to people who work with immigration detainees. As a trustee of a small charity, Read the full article…

Quality content

“We are all under attack”: solidarity, the immigration bill and a Hostile Environment

Published by NCADC on November 11, 2013 | Leave a response

At a meeting organised by Legal Action for Women in London on Saturday, representatives from groups all across the UK came together to share how things are in their locality, and to plan what we can all to do fight the racist immigration bill, the devastating legal aid cuts, and against detention and deportation. Unsurprisingly, a pretty bleak picture was painted. Scarce legal representation, increased destitution, sexual and racist abuse in detention, dwindling resources. And yet, and yet. The energy in the room was fortifying: determined groups and individuals vowing that we wouldn’t give up, and that to succeed we Read the full article…

Injustices and abuse of migrants in the UK’s asylum and immigration system

Published by NCADC on October 22, 2013 | Leave a response

Lisa Matthews (campaigns coordinator, NCADC) explains to Amina Taylor, Press TV journalist, the many abuses and injustices of enforcement in the UK’s asylum and immigration system. Ranging from a broken asylum system, the securitisation of the asylum system, cuts to legal aid, and imprisoning migrants there is a lot to cover in this short report. In the programme, refugee Ivo Kuka (friend of NCADC), talks about his experience of the detained fast-track system and the constant presence of the threat of forced removal. Watch the report here.

Campaign launched to stop deportations from Yarl’s Wood

Published by NCADC on September 26, 2013 | 1 Response

With investigations into sexual abuse at Yarl’s Wood ongoing, a campaign has been launched to stop deportations from the detention centre. Migrant Artists Mutual Aid, Liverpool, have launched a campaign to cancel the deportation of one of their members, Amina, who is detained in Yarl’s Wood and scheduled to be forcibly removed to Pakistan on Tuesday 1 October. Amina, who is seeking sanctuary in the UK from domestic violence, is an active member of the Liverpool women’s group. She is also - like every other Yarl’s Wood detainee - a potential witness with valuable evidence to give in the police Read the full article…

“The women in Yarl’s Wood are fighters”: from the Home Office demo

Published by NCADC on September 23, 2013 | 1 Response

This weekend, the Observer newspaper reported that three more women have come forward to corroborate the allegations of sexual abuse of detainees by officers at Yarl’s Wood detention centre: The women – one who is currently inside the centre and another who left in July – claim to have witnessed guards touching women inappropriately, and allege that guards gave detainees the impression they could help with immigration cases in return for sexual contact, and breached company policy by entering women’s rooms at night. NCADC is opposed to all immigration detention. It is a form of violence against migrants, and this Read the full article…

Forced removals: what we’re up against and what you can do

Published by NCADC on September 17, 2013 | 1 Response

This is the edited text of a talk given by Lisa, NCADC campaigns coordinator, at the ‘Going Back? Forced removal and voluntary returns’ conference organised by Christians Aware and After18 in Leicester, 14 September. Contents: Numbers and countries Removal and deportation When can someone be removed How the removal/deportation process works Removal of refused asylum seekers Charter flights What can be done I’ve been asked today to speak about forced removals from the UK. NCADC campaigns against injustices in the asylum and immigration system – and this doesn’t just mean trying to stop flights. When we refer to ‘forced removals’, Read the full article…

Shut down Yarl’s Wood. End immigration detention. Protests Weds 18 Sept

Published by NCADC on September 17, 2013 | 1 Response

End detention of migrants. Shut down Yarl’s Wood and all the other immigration prisons. Yet another story of abuse at the Yarl’s Wood immigration prison - this time the sexual abuse of detainees by Serco guards - has prompted protests to demand the closure of the centre, and calls for a full public enquiry. See below for details of the protests. NCADC is opposed to all immigration detention. We believe that imprisonment can never be justified as a means of migration control. Around 30,000 people enter detention centres like Yarl’s Wood every year. And now the government has announced 600 Read the full article…

Stop G4S: G4$ and the immigration detention estate

Published by NCADC on June 3, 2013 | 2 Responses

This week - on Thursday June 6th - the world’s largest security firm G4S, will hold its annual general meeting in the City of London. A large coalition of groups, including NCADC, has called for a demonstration to be held outside the event, in protest of G4S’s varying and widespread human rights abuses. This article, by NCADC volunteer Sarah McCarthy, is the second in a three-part series which will outline G4S’s role in the “asylum market” in the UK and how its involvement has led to many cases of serious neglect and mistreatment of those who seek sanctuary here. This piece Read the full article…

A future without immigration detention?

Published by NCADC on May 2, 2013 | Leave a response

This is the text of a talk given by Lisa Matthews of NCADC at the 2013 SOAS Detainee Support conference on Saturday 27 April. The panel was asked to consider: What are the strategic opportunities and risks of advocating for ‘alternatives’ to detention? Should we be promoting existing ‘alternatives’ such as bail, or case management programmes involving engagement with migrants? Immigration detention is wrong, and harmful. Detention destroys communities, and robs people of their lives, dignity and spirit. We – those of us opposed to detention – are clear on this. We are clear it is morally wrong. We are Read the full article…

Upcoming events

Published by NCADC on April 29, 2013 | Leave a response

Free NCADC workshop! Saturday 11 May, 10am to 3pm The Hub, Turl Street, Oxford This training session with the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns (NCADC) is on campaigning for migration justice and stopping deportations. The training is based on the NCADC Campaigning Toolkit, published in September 2012. The Oxford workshop will be an introduction to the toolkit, and to campaigning for migration justice in individual cases. Through interactive exercises, discussion, knowledge-sharing and case-studies we hope that participants will come away knowing more about: the asylum and immigration system, the problems individuals face what can be done to support individuals applying Read the full article…