... after using this blog for more then 2 years, we are moving to
our new website at
http://london.noborders.org.uk
please correct links on your websites.
Friday, November 21, 2008
We are moving ... our Website
... after using this blog for more then 2 years, we are moving to
please correct links on your websites.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Transnational Action Day
Statement from the Frassanito network, a transnational network of migration activists, including No Borders London.
From Warsaw in Poland to Nouakchott in Mauritania
7th of October 06: Transnational Action day against migration-control
One year after the escalations in Ceuta and Melilla a broad network of migration related initiatives call for freedom of movement in a transnational day of action. In dozens of cities in Europe and also in Africa manifestations and demonstrations are in preparation for 7th of October.
To organize such a day of migration-related actions was decided on the European Social Forum in May 2006, when about 15.000 people from different social movements met in Athens.
Since last year the militarisation of EU-migration policy has got another instrument: Frontex! Thats the name of the new European Border Agency, which is located in Warsaw. Frontex organised already EU-wide charter deportations and coordinates an operation now at the coast of West Africa: to intensify controls by ships and airplanes to prevent more so called African boatpeople from reaching Europe.
At the moment (September 06) still without meeting any success: every day
new boats are landing at the Canary Islands, with more people than ever before, and some starting at about a 1200 km distance from Mauretania or even Senegal. During the last months hundreds of people drowned or died of hunger or of thirst when they risked this new route. And the same is still happening in the Sicilian Channel.
European governments put increasing pressure to African countries tobecome henchmen for their inhuman migration-policy. Beginning in July 06 a so-called "African European summit on migration and development" took place in Rabat, again mainly in order to push African governments to adopt more systems of migration-control: to implement more visa-restrictions, to establish detention-camps, to accept "repatriation"-programms. Mainly North and West African countries are targets of this externalisation-process at the moment, and they are supposed to block migrants on their way to Europe and help to deport them to the desert or subsaharan
countries.
The European governments are responsible for thousands of deaths of African people in the last years; it is a kind of war against migrants and refugees. The above mentioned Frontex-operation is another step in this war, aiming again on the destruction of the (new) flight-routes.
With this backdrop the following call for actions on 7th of October is an important step of common resistance against this inhuman policy. Eastern European activists will protest in front of the aforementioned Frontex-office in Warsaw, while in a press-conference in Nouakchott the illegalisation of migration will be strictly critisized.
From London to Athens, from Hamburg to Barcelona, simultanous demonstrations and actions are expected in dozens of cities all over Europe. And most important: not only in Mauretania, but also in Marocco,Tunesia and Benin activities have been announced as well.
As you can see in the long list of signatures many more organisations from
various African countries have signed the call. They as well as many initiatives in Europe support the 3rd Day of Action on the 7th of October,which will be directed against the denial of rights, against the criminalisation of migrants and against all immigration controls, articulating clear demands within the framework of freedom of movement and the right to stay:
- For Europe-wide unconditional legalisation and equal rights for all migrants
- For the closure of all detention centers in Europe and everywhere
- For an end to all deportations and the externalisation process
- For the uncoupling of the residence permit from the labour contract and against 'precarity'.
Up to now (20th of September 06) actions and demonstrations for 7th of October have been announced in:
- Austria, Vienna: Decentralised actions and collective demonstration against detention-camps
- Benin, Cotounou: Activities at 6th, 7th and 9th of October
- France: Paris
- Germany, Berlin: Manifestation and demonstration against a deportation-camp;
contact: konsumfuerfreiesfluten@yahoo.com and fluchtlingsbrandenburgini@yahoo.fr
More Information here
Hamburg: Nothern-germany-wide demonstration against externalisation. Info here and here.
Cologne: Demonstration for right to stay
Frankfurt: Concert for right to stay on 6th, Action at the entrance to the international bookfair against externalisation and for the right to stay at 7th.
Thuringia: Manifestation in front of the refugee-camp in Freienbessingen -
more informations:
Augsburg: Demonstration for the right to stay
Suedbaden/Freiburg: various actions in the city.
- Greece
- Italy: Local activities in several cities
- Morocco
- Mauritania, Nouakchott and Nouadhibou: Press-Conferences and day of action.
- Netherlands, Amsterdam: Action in the shopping centre of Zaandam (near Amsterdam) to inform and mobilize the public on the two newly build detention boats in
the Zaandam harbour.
- Poland, Warsaw: Demonstration with refugees from Chechnia and manifestation in
front of Frontex-office
- Spain: Actions or demonstrations in Madrid, Barcelona, Almería, Valencia, Málaga
- Tunisia
- United Kingdom: London (see previous post)
From Warsaw in Poland to Nouakchott in Mauritania
7th of October 06: Transnational Action day against migration-control
One year after the escalations in Ceuta and Melilla a broad network of migration related initiatives call for freedom of movement in a transnational day of action. In dozens of cities in Europe and also in Africa manifestations and demonstrations are in preparation for 7th of October.
To organize such a day of migration-related actions was decided on the European Social Forum in May 2006, when about 15.000 people from different social movements met in Athens.
Since last year the militarisation of EU-migration policy has got another instrument: Frontex! Thats the name of the new European Border Agency, which is located in Warsaw. Frontex organised already EU-wide charter deportations and coordinates an operation now at the coast of West Africa: to intensify controls by ships and airplanes to prevent more so called African boatpeople from reaching Europe.
At the moment (September 06) still without meeting any success: every day
new boats are landing at the Canary Islands, with more people than ever before, and some starting at about a 1200 km distance from Mauretania or even Senegal. During the last months hundreds of people drowned or died of hunger or of thirst when they risked this new route. And the same is still happening in the Sicilian Channel.
European governments put increasing pressure to African countries tobecome henchmen for their inhuman migration-policy. Beginning in July 06 a so-called "African European summit on migration and development" took place in Rabat, again mainly in order to push African governments to adopt more systems of migration-control: to implement more visa-restrictions, to establish detention-camps, to accept "repatriation"-programms. Mainly North and West African countries are targets of this externalisation-process at the moment, and they are supposed to block migrants on their way to Europe and help to deport them to the desert or subsaharan
countries.
The European governments are responsible for thousands of deaths of African people in the last years; it is a kind of war against migrants and refugees. The above mentioned Frontex-operation is another step in this war, aiming again on the destruction of the (new) flight-routes.
With this backdrop the following call for actions on 7th of October is an important step of common resistance against this inhuman policy. Eastern European activists will protest in front of the aforementioned Frontex-office in Warsaw, while in a press-conference in Nouakchott the illegalisation of migration will be strictly critisized.
From London to Athens, from Hamburg to Barcelona, simultanous demonstrations and actions are expected in dozens of cities all over Europe. And most important: not only in Mauretania, but also in Marocco,Tunesia and Benin activities have been announced as well.
As you can see in the long list of signatures many more organisations from
various African countries have signed the call. They as well as many initiatives in Europe support the 3rd Day of Action on the 7th of October,which will be directed against the denial of rights, against the criminalisation of migrants and against all immigration controls, articulating clear demands within the framework of freedom of movement and the right to stay:
- For Europe-wide unconditional legalisation and equal rights for all migrants
- For the closure of all detention centers in Europe and everywhere
- For an end to all deportations and the externalisation process
- For the uncoupling of the residence permit from the labour contract and against 'precarity'.
Up to now (20th of September 06) actions and demonstrations for 7th of October have been announced in:
- Austria, Vienna: Decentralised actions and collective demonstration against detention-camps
- Benin, Cotounou: Activities at 6th, 7th and 9th of October
- France: Paris
- Germany, Berlin: Manifestation and demonstration against a deportation-camp;
contact: konsumfuerfreiesfluten@yahoo.com and fluchtlingsbrandenburgini@yahoo.fr
More Information here
Hamburg: Nothern-germany-wide demonstration against externalisation. Info here and here.
Cologne: Demonstration for right to stay
Frankfurt: Concert for right to stay on 6th, Action at the entrance to the international bookfair against externalisation and for the right to stay at 7th.
Thuringia: Manifestation in front of the refugee-camp in Freienbessingen -
more informations:
Augsburg: Demonstration for the right to stay
Suedbaden/Freiburg: various actions in the city.
- Greece
- Italy: Local activities in several cities
- Morocco
- Mauritania, Nouakchott and Nouadhibou: Press-Conferences and day of action.
- Netherlands, Amsterdam: Action in the shopping centre of Zaandam (near Amsterdam) to inform and mobilize the public on the two newly build detention boats in
the Zaandam harbour.
- Poland, Warsaw: Demonstration with refugees from Chechnia and manifestation in
front of Frontex-office
- Spain: Actions or demonstrations in Madrid, Barcelona, Almería, Valencia, Málaga
- Tunisia
- United Kingdom: London (see previous post)
London Demonstration Details
Details have been announced for the London demonstration on October 7th 2006: it will assemble at 12.00pm at the Imperial War Museum (Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park), Lambeth Road, London SE1 6HZ.
The October 7th organising group have issued the following statement:
For Freedom of Movement and the Right to Stay
In an echo of recent actions in the US, the UK's migrants are coming out of the shadows and demanding that their rights are recognised. Saturday October 7th 2006 will see a march through London demanding equal rights for all. The organisers are calling on migrants, asylum seekers and their friends, families and colleagues to join the demonstration and build a movement to change conditions for migrants for the better.
For many people migration is essential to escape human rights abuses, conflict and poverty. In turn people from all over the world help fuel UK prosperity, with London's diversity an important ingredient in its successful bid to host the Olympics. However, many migrants are deprived of their full rights in employment and access to public services, while at the same time being vilified as "illegal" by politicians and media and living in daily fear of detention and deportation.
The march on October 7 2006 will start at 12 noon from the gardens of the Imperial War Museum (Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park) and proceed through south London towards the city. On Sunday October 8 2006 10am-5pm a conference will be held at Queen Mary University where migrant communities, activists and specialists in the field will discuss the possibilities and implications of a regularisation in the UK.
Anita Ceravolo, spokesperson for the October 7th organising group, said:
"There is no such a thing as an illegal person. It is the migration control system that produces illegality. It creates an underclass of people who will then go on to be cheap labour, to be exploited in various ways by unscrupulous bosses, and landlords and others.They live in fear, afraid of looking for legal protection, and effectively banned from using public services.
"The exploitation of migrants only helps to drive down wages and working conditions for the domestic workforce. It is in the interests of some bosses to deny migrants their full rights, and this is what undermines social justice for all. This is why the fight for migrant rights is in everyone's interest."
October 7th activities will take place in various cities across Europe and in Africa, forming the Third International Day of Action on Migration. This action results from the Migration Assembly which took place at the European Social Forum in Athens in June. It builds up on the appeal launched by various organisations during the World Social Forum in Bamako, Mali, in January and will lead to a major European Assembly on Migrant Rights and Regularisation in 2007.
Taking their lead from the ESF manifesto, the various groups organising the October 7th March are calling for:
* Regularisation for the migrants who are in the UK irregularly because they are refused asylum applicants, trafficked people or visa overstayers
* The right of all present in the UK to work and to be protected from destitution
* The closure of all detention centres and an end to the 'externalisation process' through which detention centres and other forms of migration control are established outside the borders of the EU
* Social justice and security of livelihood for all
* UK sign up to the UN International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers.
One of the people at the march will be Anthony Seifah, a Ghanaian cleaner 'People want to be secure," says Anthony "They need to work, they can't starve. What everyone is crying out for is a work permit; they are not criminals, all they need is a work permit to do the jobs that need to be done.
Please join our march on October 7 and help to make life better for migrants and everyone who lives in the UK."
Event summary
What: March for Migrant Rights - 3rd International Day of Action for Migrant Rights
When: October 7th, 12pm
Where: Assembly point at the Imperial War Museum (Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park, Southwark). Tube: Waterloo, Elephant & Castle.
What: Conference on Migrant Rights and Regularisation
When: October 8th from 10am to 5pm
Where: Queen Mary's University, Geography Department, Main Lecture Theatre, Mile End. Tube: Mile End, Stepney Green.
Facts about migrants in the UK
Refused asylum seekers and many asylum applicants, who are normally from the global south, are frequently detained and/or electronically tagged
They are frequently deprived of the right to work meaning they, together with visa overstayers and trafficked people, are forced to work in the informal economy and/or in jobs which are dirty difficult and dangerous for the lowest wages.
Failed asylum seekers, overstayers and trafficked people are effectively denied the right to access justice, full employment rights, and non-urgent health and maternity services. They are also denied the right to marry in a civil ceremony.
Many regular migrants who have entered the UK using "legal" routes or via Accession are denied full employment and social rights. Non-EEA migrants will be subjected to the ID card before UK nationals and to surveillance at work and when they use public services.
For many developing countries such as Ghana and Bangladesh remittances from migrant workers including those in the UK are very important to their national countries' economies and local people's survival.
Many migrants who are well-qualified are forced by their immigration status and visa conditions to work in jobs that are not commensurate with their skills and qualifications
The UK is already holding more than 2500 people who have not been convicted of any criminal offences, in immigration detention centres at a cost of more than £2 million per week.
The October 7th organising group have issued the following statement:
For Freedom of Movement and the Right to Stay
In an echo of recent actions in the US, the UK's migrants are coming out of the shadows and demanding that their rights are recognised. Saturday October 7th 2006 will see a march through London demanding equal rights for all. The organisers are calling on migrants, asylum seekers and their friends, families and colleagues to join the demonstration and build a movement to change conditions for migrants for the better.
For many people migration is essential to escape human rights abuses, conflict and poverty. In turn people from all over the world help fuel UK prosperity, with London's diversity an important ingredient in its successful bid to host the Olympics. However, many migrants are deprived of their full rights in employment and access to public services, while at the same time being vilified as "illegal" by politicians and media and living in daily fear of detention and deportation.
The march on October 7 2006 will start at 12 noon from the gardens of the Imperial War Museum (Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park) and proceed through south London towards the city. On Sunday October 8 2006 10am-5pm a conference will be held at Queen Mary University where migrant communities, activists and specialists in the field will discuss the possibilities and implications of a regularisation in the UK.
Anita Ceravolo, spokesperson for the October 7th organising group, said:
"There is no such a thing as an illegal person. It is the migration control system that produces illegality. It creates an underclass of people who will then go on to be cheap labour, to be exploited in various ways by unscrupulous bosses, and landlords and others.They live in fear, afraid of looking for legal protection, and effectively banned from using public services.
"The exploitation of migrants only helps to drive down wages and working conditions for the domestic workforce. It is in the interests of some bosses to deny migrants their full rights, and this is what undermines social justice for all. This is why the fight for migrant rights is in everyone's interest."
October 7th activities will take place in various cities across Europe and in Africa, forming the Third International Day of Action on Migration. This action results from the Migration Assembly which took place at the European Social Forum in Athens in June. It builds up on the appeal launched by various organisations during the World Social Forum in Bamako, Mali, in January and will lead to a major European Assembly on Migrant Rights and Regularisation in 2007.
Taking their lead from the ESF manifesto, the various groups organising the October 7th March are calling for:
* Regularisation for the migrants who are in the UK irregularly because they are refused asylum applicants, trafficked people or visa overstayers
* The right of all present in the UK to work and to be protected from destitution
* The closure of all detention centres and an end to the 'externalisation process' through which detention centres and other forms of migration control are established outside the borders of the EU
* Social justice and security of livelihood for all
* UK sign up to the UN International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers.
One of the people at the march will be Anthony Seifah, a Ghanaian cleaner 'People want to be secure," says Anthony "They need to work, they can't starve. What everyone is crying out for is a work permit; they are not criminals, all they need is a work permit to do the jobs that need to be done.
Please join our march on October 7 and help to make life better for migrants and everyone who lives in the UK."
Event summary
What: March for Migrant Rights - 3rd International Day of Action for Migrant Rights
When: October 7th, 12pm
Where: Assembly point at the Imperial War Museum (Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park, Southwark). Tube: Waterloo, Elephant & Castle.
What: Conference on Migrant Rights and Regularisation
When: October 8th from 10am to 5pm
Where: Queen Mary's University, Geography Department, Main Lecture Theatre, Mile End. Tube: Mile End, Stepney Green.
Facts about migrants in the UK
Refused asylum seekers and many asylum applicants, who are normally from the global south, are frequently detained and/or electronically tagged
They are frequently deprived of the right to work meaning they, together with visa overstayers and trafficked people, are forced to work in the informal economy and/or in jobs which are dirty difficult and dangerous for the lowest wages.
Failed asylum seekers, overstayers and trafficked people are effectively denied the right to access justice, full employment rights, and non-urgent health and maternity services. They are also denied the right to marry in a civil ceremony.
Many regular migrants who have entered the UK using "legal" routes or via Accession are denied full employment and social rights. Non-EEA migrants will be subjected to the ID card before UK nationals and to surveillance at work and when they use public services.
For many developing countries such as Ghana and Bangladesh remittances from migrant workers including those in the UK are very important to their national countries' economies and local people's survival.
Many migrants who are well-qualified are forced by their immigration status and visa conditions to work in jobs that are not commensurate with their skills and qualifications
The UK is already holding more than 2500 people who have not been convicted of any criminal offences, in immigration detention centres at a cost of more than £2 million per week.
Monday, September 11, 2006
Reggae Benefit
Just letting everyone know that from 8am-2pm this Friday (15th Sept) we are having a REGGAE PARTY! at the Ramparts Social Centre, 15-17 Rampart Street, Whitechapel, London E1 to raise money for the demo on Oct 7th. Suggested donation is £3, with cheap drinks all night.
Saturday, September 09, 2006
October 7th - Demonstration and Conference
The third INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION FOR MIGRANTS & REFUGEES RIGHTS is directed:
- Against the denial of rights, the criminalisation of migrants and refugees and all immigration controls;
- For a European unconditional legalisation and equal rights for all migrants and refugees;
- For the closure of all detention centres in Europe and everywhere;
- For an end to all deportations;
- For an end to 'the externalisation process' where European border controls are set up outside Europe – for example camps in North Africa and Russia;
- For the uncoupling of the residence permit from the labour contract and against the laws and institutions that make people precarious and thus vulnerable to exploitation.
In London a demonstration will take place on Saturday October 7th, assembling at 12 noon. The route is being finalised, but is likely to have a South London focus. Put the date in your diary and tell all your friends.
The next day on 8th October there will be a conference in London at Queen Mary's College, Mile End Road, with a focus on the communities affected.
As well as No Borders London, the demonstration and conference are being supported by groups including Campaign to Close Campsfield, Barbed Wire Britain, No Borders Glasgow, Stop Deportations to Iraq, Stop Deporting Children, Migrants Solidarity Network, London Against Detention, No One is Illegal and the Latin American Workers Association.
Full text of the call for action from the Athens European Social Forum
Round-up of the 2005 day of action.
- Against the denial of rights, the criminalisation of migrants and refugees and all immigration controls;
- For a European unconditional legalisation and equal rights for all migrants and refugees;
- For the closure of all detention centres in Europe and everywhere;
- For an end to all deportations;
- For an end to 'the externalisation process' where European border controls are set up outside Europe – for example camps in North Africa and Russia;
- For the uncoupling of the residence permit from the labour contract and against the laws and institutions that make people precarious and thus vulnerable to exploitation.
In London a demonstration will take place on Saturday October 7th, assembling at 12 noon. The route is being finalised, but is likely to have a South London focus. Put the date in your diary and tell all your friends.
The next day on 8th October there will be a conference in London at Queen Mary's College, Mile End Road, with a focus on the communities affected.
As well as No Borders London, the demonstration and conference are being supported by groups including Campaign to Close Campsfield, Barbed Wire Britain, No Borders Glasgow, Stop Deportations to Iraq, Stop Deporting Children, Migrants Solidarity Network, London Against Detention, No One is Illegal and the Latin American Workers Association.
Full text of the call for action from the Athens European Social Forum
Round-up of the 2005 day of action.
Friday, September 08, 2006
Feminist Fightback & Anarchist Bookfair
A busy day for London No Borders on Saturday October 21st. We will be holding a meeting at the Anarchist Bookfair at LVSC in Holloway Road, North London.
On the same day we are also supporting a workshop on asylum seekers and refugees at the Feminist Fightback conference, taking place at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.
On the same day we are also supporting a workshop on asylum seekers and refugees at the Feminist Fightback conference, taking place at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.
Benefit Gigs
Several benefit events coming up in the next few weeks at Ramparts Social Centre, 15-17 Rampart Street, London, E1 2LA.
On Saturday September 9th, there's a Queers Without Borders benefit from 8pm-2am. Proceeds will be split between London No Borders detainee support group and Queer Beograds festival (Serbia).
Then on the 15th September and 7th October there will be two further benefits to help cover the costs of the International Day of Action for Migrant Rights. Watch this space for further details.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
No deportations to Iraq
The Coalition to Stop Deportations to Iraq and the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees has called a picket of the Home Office (2 Marsham Street, London SW1) to oppose the imminent forced deportation of a large group of asylum seekers. The picket will take place from 12-2 pm on Tuesday 5 September.
The Home Office has detained many Iraqi Kurds, perhaps 60, and some have been told they will be removed on September 5th. ll over Britain Iraqis are living in fear of a dawn raid on their home, or of arrest at their place of work or when they go to report at the Home Office signing centre.
CRDI report that 'There has recently been a wave of protests in South Kurdistan. This is because people are fed up with seeing rampant official corruption and incompetence and the luxurious lifestyles of the party leaders and their hangers-on, which contrasts with run-away inflation, high unemployment rates, petrol shortages, water shortages, power cuts, a losing battle to make ends meet for ordinary people, and persecution if you overstep the narrow bounds of acceptable criticism. But the security forces regularly shoot at protesters and arrest large numbers of people – hardly evidence of a safe place for people to be returned to'.
For more information contact Sarah Parker on 0207 809 0633 or 0793 211 6615, email sarahp107@hotmail.com.
The Home Office has detained many Iraqi Kurds, perhaps 60, and some have been told they will be removed on September 5th. ll over Britain Iraqis are living in fear of a dawn raid on their home, or of arrest at their place of work or when they go to report at the Home Office signing centre.
CRDI report that 'There has recently been a wave of protests in South Kurdistan. This is because people are fed up with seeing rampant official corruption and incompetence and the luxurious lifestyles of the party leaders and their hangers-on, which contrasts with run-away inflation, high unemployment rates, petrol shortages, water shortages, power cuts, a losing battle to make ends meet for ordinary people, and persecution if you overstep the narrow bounds of acceptable criticism. But the security forces regularly shoot at protesters and arrest large numbers of people – hardly evidence of a safe place for people to be returned to'.
For more information contact Sarah Parker on 0207 809 0633 or 0793 211 6615, email sarahp107@hotmail.com.
Communications House Picket
No Borders London held a small picket of Communications House in London yesterday. The anonymous office block at Old Street roundabout is a 'reporting and enforcement centre' of the Government's Immigration and Nationality Department. Asylum seekers who have to report here to sign on can be detained without notice as a prelude to being removed from the country.
Within the building there is a 'Short Term Holding Centre' managed by private prison company GSL (previously part of Group4). Once seized at Communications House, people are held incommunicado until a Wackenhut van removes them to their unknown fate. Friends, families and lawyers may not know for days. To maintain fear and isolation, asylum seekers are not allowed to bring anybody into the building with them. On yesterday's picket, even our leaflets with some basic advice were confiscated off people entering the building - we witnessed a man being told he would not be allowed in unless he gave us back the leaflet he had just taken from us. An unfriendly security guard ignored her own 'No Litter' sign and came outside especially to screw up a leaflet and throw it at our feet.
Communications House is part of an expanding network of 'holding', 'detention' and 'removal' centres, where thousands of people who have committed no crime are held - almost all are run by private firms for profit.
No Borders London hold monthly pickets of Communications House on the first Saturday of the month, from 1 pm to 3 pm. Next month (October) we will be focusing on a national demonstration, so our next picket of Communications House will take place on Saturday November 4th at 1 pm. Try and come along, or make your own protest.
Fight Racism, Fight Imperialism also hold regular pickets of Communications House, with the next one tomorrow, Monday September 4th at 1 pm.
See also: report of a protest in April 2006.
Friday, August 18, 2006
No Borders Detainee Support Group
No Borders London
The no borders detainee support group is part of the London no borders network.
We directly support the struggles of migrants and refugees outside and inside the detention centres
We offer practical help to people in immigration detention and/or those threatened with deportation, our aim is to work in solidarity with migrants and refugees and to empower their own struggles.
An important distinction between our activities and those of most other visitors groups is that we actively campaign to get people out of detention and to assist them in their asylum claims. We are not lawyers and are not able to offer legal advice but we work in cooperation with a number of different organisations to extend the networks of support available to those inside and outside of detention.
We encourage self-help and welcome the involvement of friends and families, community groups, church groups etc. Many of the detainees have no support other than us.
We are not solicitors - we are not qualified / allowed to give legal advice, but we provide people with general information on what they can do and help them to get in contact with good solicitors, independent doctors, MPs and others who can help.
Through regular visiting and phone contact with detainees we help people to access proper legal and medical support, we also campaign to stop deportations, monitor abuses within the detention centres, support self organised resistance within the detention centres – such as hunger strikes and other forms of protest- and to further detainees ability to advocate on their own behalf. We work at a number of different levels to publicise the struggles of individual detainees and the situation with immigration in general.
Training and induction day for people interested in joining the detainee support group:
If you are interested in visiting people in detention and want to find out what this is like and how to go about it we have a training day coming up
Saturday august 26th at LARC – London Action Resource Centre
12pm -4pm
Workshop in two parts
12 – 2pm
Practical skills for visiting and support work:
Hear directly from ex – detainees their experience in detention, an over view of the detention and asylum system, what to expect when visiting, basic guidelines for visiting and offering support, networks of support and accessing useful information, how to stop a deportation.
2.30pm- 4pm
Emotional skills for visiting and support work:
Identifying your limits and capabilities in support work, issues that come up in working with detainees, skills for stress management, signs of burn out, working towards sustainable activism.
Useful skills for working in detainee support
The desire to assist people inside and outside of detention to access practical help; to empower them to help them selves
Being a good listener
Having good personal boundaries or some counselling experience
Being aware that detainee support involves working with people who have experienced traumatic events and who are often in an extremely stressful situation
Being able to take the initiative in networking with other groups in seeking legal/medical/press/lobbying support
Being clear about how much time and energy you have to contribute to detainee support.
All levels of involvement are welcome, but we encourage people to respect their own limits and not to over commit.
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