SOAS Detainee Support is a student-led initiative working in solidarity with migrants in and outside detention centres. They aim to reduce isolation through visits, to empower detainees and campaign to put an end to the use of immigration detention.
SOAS Detainee Support mainly visit people who are being held in Yarl’s Wood, Harmondsworth and Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs).
The group works in solidarity rather than out of charity, and tries to meet people in detention on their own terms and without preconceived notions about people’s situation or desires. Please be aware that people in IRCs may wish to build a connection with one individual over a period of time, so if you do set up a visiting group you will need to be ready to commit regularly and over a long period of time. Please talk to already existing visiting groups, and ask what would be best to help them.