July was another busy month battling the government’s plan to expand the detention estate (a huge shout-out to the Coalition to Close Campsfield for their amazing work!) while doing everything else. A polite reminder: we have fewer than two full-time equivalent Legal Education Officers. Our entire team is made up of only seven staff, with four working part-time. Please be gentle with your requests – thank you. 

New material and important legal updates

Our legal updates explain crucial information about the asylum and immigration legal system in simple language. Here’s what we published in July:

With more and more people navigating the process of claiming asylum without lawyers, we need to step up and support each other to be prepared and organised. Read our blog, “Getting things in order: How a chronology can help your asylum case” (7 July 2026).

A new Bill, the Immigration and Asylum Bill (“the Bill”), was published on 30 June 2026. Remember that the Bill is not law yet but it helps to understand the Government’s plans. Our blog, “The Immigration and Asylum Bill 2026: What we know so far” (8 July 2026) is our jargon-free explainer on what’s in the bill.

On 9 July 2026, the government published a Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules, which included a significant change for asylum interviews, starting from 3 August. This could mean some people are refused asylum without a separate substantive asylum interview. While the full details are not yet available, our blog, “A major change to asylum interviews from 3 August 2026″ (10 July 2026), explains what we know so far.

On 14 July, we published our new guide, “Migrants Affected by Domestic Abuse,” for migrants experiencing domestic abuse and those supporting individuals in this situation. It can be used to find and share information on different types of immigration applications that might be available, as well as useful steps to help you prepare your case. Please share it widely!

First Campsfield, and now Haslar. Say no to the Haslar detention centre expansion plan. Deadline 6 August.

After a flurry of activity to urge others to oppose the plan to expand Campsfield immigration detention centre in Oxfordshire, my colleague, Ally, unexpectedly discovered another consultation – this time, to expand the yet-to-reopen Haslar detention centre in Gosport. These Walls Must Fall immediately called for a public meeting, and we would like to thank everyone who joined us on 29 July despite such short notice. Please use our template to submit your objection before 6 August – anyone can participate in this consultation. Watch this space for our next action, including an invitation to join or host our National Week of Solidarity to End Immigration Detention in October!

Voices that are powerful and real. Interviewing These Walls Must Fall campaigners about our fight against immigration detention.

Right to Remain has been asked to participate in an exciting ‘zine’ project that collates contributions from people and groups fighting to end immigration detention across the world. We decided to ask our These Walls Must Fall campaigners to share their perspectives, experiences, and hopes arising from their campaigning and organising to end detention. We would like to thank those who took part in this project and one amazing ally who helped organise the interviews. We hope to officially launch the zine in October this year.

Building the migration justice movement – summary of our activities

Here’s all the workshops we ran and the events we spoke at in July. 

• 1 July 2026 – Stop Campsfield Expansion, online
• 11 July 2026 – The Power of Transformative Organising, ARM (the Anti-Racist Movement) in London, in person
• 15 July 2026 – Detention and enforcement workshop in Bradford, in person
• 16 July 2026 – Navigating the crisis in immigration advice event by Manchester Destitution Fund, in person
• 16 July 2026 – Introduction to the Toolkit, online
• 27 July 2026 – Knowledge is Power: evidence, online
• 28 July 2026 – Toolkit session for ILA-Wales CIC (Iberians and Latin Americans in Wales), online
• 29 July 2026 – Stop Haslar Expansion public meeting, online

Our workshops in August! 

• 18 August – Knowledge is Power: the asylum system
• 19 August – The introduction to the Right to Remain Toolkit

Finally… 

I’m not sure how long Andy Burnham fever lasts. We all know, however, our work to achieve migration justice continues regardless of who the Prime Minister is. In case you missed it, here’s my open letter to you (and not to Andy Burnham). 

Eiri Ohtani, Director