Detention is. Detention is.
Do you know the prison?
Do you ever locked up in a cell?
There is no different between being criminal or innocent.
Detention is. Detention is.
Being vulnerable is a big crime.
Trying to follow law. The law escape from you.
Try to find solicitor. Solicitors are not free.
Detention is. Detention is.
Freedom is so far.
Deportation is so near.
Fear. Cry. Suicidal thought.
What have I done?
Why am I here?
Detention is. Detention is.
Expired sanitary product.
Forced untasty food.
Dark, hopeless, end of the tunnel.
Work for one pound per hour.
Detention is. Detention is.
There are no human rights.
It is abuse and humiliating.
End the abuse of human right.
End the disaster called detention.
End detention. End detention.
— ‘End detention now’ by E.E.
About immigration detention in the UK
Immigration detention is the practice of holding people who are subject to immigration control in custody, while they wait for permission to enter or before they are deported or removed from the country. It is an administrative process, not a criminal procedure. This means that migrants and undocumented people are detained at the decision of an immigration official, not a court or a judge.
Home Office policy says that detention must be used sparingly and for the shortest possible period. But in reality, many thousands are held each year, and some for very lengthy periods, causing serious mental distress. Unlike most other European countries, there is no time limit on immigration detention in the UK.
The UK is one of the largest users of detention in Europe. People are detained in detention centres known as 'Immigration Removal Centres' (IRCs), Short-Term Holding Facilities (STHFs) and prisons.
Around 24,000 people are held under Immigration Act powers every year, for a range of reasons. Some are asylums seekers who have had their claim refused. Others are asylum seekers who have a claim in process, and are being held while that decision is made (under what is known as the Detained Fast Track). Whatever the circumstances, being held in prison-like conditions without a time limit causes anxiety and distress. Many detainees already have traumatic backgrounds, and the psychological impact of being held is absolutely damaging.