We need you! We are currently recruiting volunteer interpreters. As a volunteer interpreter, you will support calls with people in detention, helping us provide vital practical and emotional support. To apply, please visit our website: detentionaction.org.uk/get-involved...

Eighty people seeking asylum - detained under the UK–France Deal - have launched a report detailing their experiences of fear, humiliation, and psychological distress caused by the Home Office. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

More evidence of serious failures within the immigration detention system, as the High Court rules that there has been an unlawful failure of the Home Office’s system designed to protect vulnerable people from inhuman and degrading treatment in detention.

In 2025, our dedicated Casework Team gave support and expert advice to hundreds of people trapped in immigration detention, helping them navigate the hostile immigration system and, in many cases, regain their freedom. We couldn't have done this without our amazing supporters.

Thanks to all our amazing supporters, we achieved our fundraising goal as part of the Big Give Christmas Challenge! We're very grateful to everyone who has backed Detention Action - in any way - this past year, and we'd like to send you all best wishes for the holidays.

We're so close to our target! If you'd like to help us provide support to even more people in detention - including loving parents separated from their children - please give before noon today, if you can, so your donation can be doubled as part of the Big Give. donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...

If you donate to our Christmas Appeal before noon tomorrow, we can double your donation, thanks to the Big Give. Your donation will help us support more loving parents, cruelly separated from their children and loved ones by detention and the threat of deportation: donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...

When a family is torn apart by detention, the fight to stay together can last years and cost up to £50k. Families can be plunged into poverty, with serious harm to children when they lose a parent. Support our Christmas appeal to Keep Families Together: donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...

1/3 A new report by independent inspectors has raised serious concerns about the immigration detention centres near Gatwick Airport. They report "instances of intimidating, callous or disrespectful behaviour [by staff] both to and about detained men".

When a loving parent is deported, the Home Office shows little care for the children who are harmed. That's why, this Christmas, we're asking you to support our work to Keep Families Together. And until 9 December, all donations will be doubled! donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...

Samuel told us how his family was thrown into chaos when the Home Office detained him and threatened to deport him. Seven years on, he and his children still live under that threat. This Christmas, Help us Keep Families Together. donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...

“It has affected the children a lot, and how they see themselves.” Samuel’s family was torn apart when he was detained. Seven years later, they still live under the threat of his deportation. Help us Keep Families Together. Donate to our festive appeal: donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...

Each year, many children lose a loving parent to forced deportation. This winter, we need your help to Keep Families Together. And if you give to our appeal before 9 December, your donation will be doubled with matched funding, as part of the Big Give. donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...

1/4 Local activists report that the first person has been transferred by the Home Office to the reopened Campsfield immigration detention centre, Oxfordshire; the first step in the government's plan to detain at least 45% more people across the UK.

We need your help to keep families together. Every penny given to our Christmas Challenge helps us support parents to return to their families and into their children’s arms. Give before 9 December and have your donation doubled with match funding! donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...

The government detained 22,661 people in the year ending Sep 2025; a 17% leap from the year before. But more than half of those people were ultimately released back to the community. Detention does serious harm and costs tens of millions — so why detain them in the first place?

1/3 An official watchdog overseeing the operation of immigration detention centres has released alarming information about the use of force against people held by the Home Office.

Since August, we’ve witnessed how this government’s UK–France deal puts people in danger. Their new asylum reforms will only push more people — including the most vulnerable — into detention and expose them to serious risks of harm. Our full statement: detentionaction.org.uk/2025/11/21/o...

“In their rush to remove people seeking asylum to France, the Home Office is depriving them of the chance to explain their circumstances, causing extreme distress. Even survivors of trafficking face the terrifying prospect of removal by force.”

It’s been 100 days since the UK-France deal came into force. Every day, our Casework Team sees the serious harm it’s causing to people seeking asylum. Beyond the government's failures, detention harms people — even more so for those fleeing war, torture and persecution.

We're hiring a Casework Coordinator to join our incredible Casework Team! Providing vital support and non-legal advice to people in immigration detention, our team help to challenge injustices in the UK's asylum, detention and deportation systems. Apply here: www.charityjob.co.uk/jobs/detenti...

Led by @libertyhq.bsky.social, almost 300 organisations across the UK have come together to defend the vital importance of the European Convention on Human Rights in protecting every person in the UK. 1/3 www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

This government signed a £140 million contract to reopen the Campsfield detention centre, notorious for its appalling conditions before its closure in 2019. Plans to expand detention by 45% will only harm more people and put them at severe risk. www.forbes.com/sites/freyli...

Under their deal with France, this government is detaining and removing many vulnerable people seeking asylum here. This includes people suffering from suicidal thoughts, living with the trauma of being trafficked, and those trying to reunite with their families in the UK.

The indefinite nature of detention causes severe harm, leaving many people in detention depressed, hopeless, and intensely fearful. People are also distressed and frustrated by uncertainty over how long they will be held and whether they will be able to remain in the UK.

Detention is inherently harmful, but people with mental disorders or past trauma are at greater risk of severe harm in detention. We are deeply concerned that people escaping persecution and crossing the Channel now face detention and removal under the new asylum deal.

Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs) are built like prisons. Each year, 1000s of people in detention are locked in cells smaller than a parking space, up to 12 hours a day. This government plans to open more IRCs and trap even more people inside, under threat of forced removal.

For thousands of people each year, detention is the place where their liberty is taken away, where they’re cut off from loved ones, and where uncertainty is the norm. In our new explainer series, we aim to highlight the reality of detention and the harm it causes.

The Home Office is often failing to identify survivors of human trafficking, subjecting them to further harm in detention. Among people we support under the UK-France deal, at least 16 have shown strong signs of being trafficked. Only 5 were referred for assessment and support.

People seeking asylum are given only seven days to challenge their removal to France. Predictably, the system in place to provide legal support for people in detention is failing. Some are unable to obtain legal representation and end up missing crucial deadlines.

Many people we support who are facing removal to France speak little to no English. The Home Office only provides crucial information in English with very limited interpretation. People seeking asylum often don't know why they're detained, some even after weeks locked away.

Escaping persecution. Losing loved ones. Surviving smugglers & dangerous journeys. Reaching the UK. Being denied the right to work. Waiting months or years for protection. Living in fear of detention & return, all before rebuilding your life. PM Starmer: This is no "golden ticket".

People seeking asylum have survived torture, war, abuse, and the violent loss of loved ones. Under this scheme, they are now thrown into prison-like detention facilities and often trapped in small cells for up to 12 hours a day. Detention causes great harm to their health.

The scheme has been beset with foreseeable problems. Screening for vulnerabilities and age is not working and the system designed to get people legal advice has predictably failed. The only way to stop this chaos is to end this deal urgently: www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

People are arriving from Afghanistan, Palestine, Syria and elsewhere, seeking our protection, only to be locked in small cells and denied the support they urgently need. The new home secretary must change course and stop putting people in even more danger: www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

Hear Fessahaye's story: he fled torture and slavery, only to be detained in the UK and threatened with removal under the new asylum deal. Detention is harsh, harmful, and wholly unsuitable for those fleeing war, torture, and persecution. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

As Shabana Mahmood MP steps into the role of Home Secretary, we urge her to deliver justice, fairness and compassion in the immigration and asylum systems, by ending indefinite detention and protecting the rights of people seeking asylum.

Would you or someone you know like to volunteer at Detention Action? Last year, our amazing Casework Team provided a lifeline to 630 people trapped in immigration detention, supporting them to stand up for their rights. Find out more: detentionaction.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer

From 2024 to 2025, the government detained 25% more people in Immigration Removal Centres. These are harsh, prison-like facilities where people are often locked in small cells for 12 hours a day. 1/3

“These people are so exhausted and so traumatised yet somehow they keep themselves so calm.” Hear from staff at the hidden Manston asylum centre speak about the treatment of people fleeing war, torture, and persecution to seek safety here. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

The government is detaining more than 100 people who crossed the Channel, in small cells and harsh conditions. Many have escaped war, persecution and torture and are living with PTSD, depression and anxiety. Detention is no place for people seeking asylum. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

1/2 Many people who cross the Channel to seek protection here have endured war, torture, sexual assault, and the violent loss of loved ones. Research shows asylum seekers are 8 times more likely to have PTSD and 2.5 times more likely to suffer depression.

In its asylum deal, this government accepts people seeking asylum via France, but only if it removes those who cross the Channel. This "transfer scheme" relies on other people risking their lives at sea, only to be locked up and sent back. This isn’t what a safe route looks like.

Along with 212 organisations, we call on all party leaders to end the divisive politics, racist rhetoric and demonising language of the past. Thanks to @refugeestogether.bsky.social for rallying everyone to this cause. You can read the full letter here: togetherwithrefugees.org.uk/far-right-re...

This government is now singling out an unknown number of people who crossed the Channel - detaining them, blocking their asylum claims and rushing them back to France. We stand firm in defending everyone's right to seek asylum.

Under the new asylum deal, some people crossing the Channel will be detained and sent to France, with their asylum claims not even considered in the UK. This government is denying people the right to seek asylum here simply because of how they reach the UK.

Home Office annual accounts reveal the shocking scale of unlawful detention for migrants in the UK. Whether a result of flawed decision-making, rushed deportation processes, or limited access to legal advice, too many people are being detained unlawfully and at too high a cost.

We condemn the recent violence targeting people seeking asylum. Politicians must recognise that dehumanising language and hostile policies fuel division. We urge this government to lead by example and offer support to people fleeing persecution. They deserve SAFETY, not cruelty.

The report states “a longstanding and fundamental problem was that all immigration detainees at Brook House, who should be held in relaxed conditions with minimal restrictions, were instead in an institution that looked and felt like a prison”

At Harmondsworth, one of the immigration removal centres inspected, there was suicide attempt when inspectors were on the site. Inspectors highlighted “a high level of unmet mental health need” and poor support to those at risks of self-harm.