On Saturday 8 February, members of the Right to Remain team – including many of our These Walls Must Fall campaigners from Manchester and Liverpool – travelled to Sheffield to facilitate our third ‘Detention and Beyond Detention’ event, following our trips to Birmingham and Nottingham at the end of last year. 

We coorganised the event with South Yorkshire Migration and Asylum Action Group (SYMAAG) and the Migration Research Group (MRG) at the University of Sheffield. We were overwhelmed by the support and engagement the event garnered; over 50 participants joined us in person for an entire Saturday!

The purpose of this event was, in the spirit of fighting against immigration detention, to explore what knowledge is needed in our communities, what radical solidarity could mean in this context, and what we should be doing to build our communities’ collective power. We also wanted to centre lived experience as the core of this movement. 

What happened at the event?

The morning began with Eiri, our Director, and Maggy, our campaigns Organiser, leading us through a ‘collective power’ ice breaker. Through discussions in smaller groups, we found that there was over 600 years’ worth of experience of migration and migration justice in the room. We strongly encouraged people to sit next to people that they did not know – and we hope that this helped people to make new connections.  

We were then led by Eiri through an outline of the state of the enforcement spectrum; how the Home Office carries out this work, the many forms it takes (raids, reporting, detention, deportation, etc) and the need to connect these dots to understand its holistic impact on our communities. This provided a framework for the rest of the day’s work. 

Maggy facilitated our first discussion, by creating space for the sharing of direct experiences of reporting and immigration detention. We heard contributions from Boucka Koffi (chair of VVIDY (Voice for Voiceless Immigration Detainees-Yorkshire)), Maria Vasquez-Aguilar (Co-founder of the Chile Solidarity Network and Chile 50 Years UK), Firas, and from Maggy herself. In their feedback, many people highlighted ‘the heartfelt and practical testimony of people on the receiving end of the hostile environment’ as the most crucial part of the day. 

We then moved into our 1-hour introduction to detention workshop, facilitated by Yumna, our Senior Legal Education Officer. The main objective of the workshop was equipping ourselves in case we are, or someone we know is detained and knowing what to do in that circumstance. The workshop had a good mix of participants: there were people who are going through the asylum and immigration system themselves and their allies, including people for whom this is the very first time they learn about immigration detention.

Participants shared how elements of the interactive workshop were very useful and empowering:

• ‘Practical steps to support people facing detention, e.g., how to coordinate a campaign. Understanding more about detention, e.g., how long people can be detained for’
• ‘Learn about the rights of people facing detention and how communities can support them’

After a delicious and energising lunch provided by the Open Kitchen Social Club, we were welcomed back into the room by an ice breaker coordinated by our campaigner TJ. She succeeded in making us all laugh and shaking off the post-lunch fatigue before we launched into the second half of the day. 

Our second panel of the day centred upon sharing solidarity and campaign experiences. Facilitated by Eiri, we heard from Nina Houghton from Solidarity Knows No Borders Merseyside, Taran and Coral from Derbyshire Refugee Solidarity, our campaigner Teresa and Maggy, our Organiser. The discussion centred around the devastating experience of immigration reporting, the impact it has upon people subjected to the condition, and how local communities have rallied around those who are forced to report, particularly after the violent Rwanda saga last year. The discussion was so gripping that we ran 15 minutes overtime, and for good reason! This panel was a manifestation of the radical solidarity we urge our communities to engage with – to stand with people who are not like them, in pursuit of a common aim. In their feedback, participants stated that ‘The lived experience stories were very helpful to understand the consequences of hostile environment. I learned how the system is structured to instil fear partly through the mandatory reporting.’

We then moved into a case study and group discussion to identify the strengths and challenges we have in challenging enforcement. We could see our These Walls Must Fall campaigners, dotted round the room, holding court at each table and others seriously engrossed in group discussions. 

In the final part of the day, we invited local campaigners to share their work. This section was full of energy despite the fact that it was cut short due to a double booking of our event space! 

We heard a message of solidarity from Sheffield Trades Council who were unable to join us on the day, followed by a presentation by Sarli Nana of Migrants Organise on the Abolish Reporting campaign. We then heard from Samuel Cundy of Change Lab who is working on the Free Bus Pass campaign for people seeking asylum. Melinda Mo Martinez discussed the role of City of Sanctuary in campaigning and particularly around the Lift the Ban campaign to enable people seeking asylum to work in the UK so as to end the vicious cycle of destitution and deprivation. Finally, we heard from our own Ibrahim of These Walls Must Fall about the impact of our national demonstration which targeted the Derwentside/Hassockfield Immigration Detention Centre, a facility detaining women seeking asylum and right to remain in the UK. You can read more about the demonstration here.

While knowing about detention and preparing for detention is important, there are so many different ways, other than visiting people who are already detained (which is of course very important), that can build a more holistic resistance and response to immigration enforcement, without siloing different points of enforcement. The feedback we receive from our community is  extremely valuable, as we continue to pilot these sessions in other areas.

LOVED IT! SAFE, ORGANISED! We need more! <3 Thanks RtR

Our original plan – before we were kicked out of the room – was to hold space for more discussion and local action planning. Unfortunately, it was not possible but we know that SYMAAG will be planning to build on the energy and solidarity cultivated!