Ali Smith writes in @theobserver.bsky.social ‘Ten years on, in even darker times for the people rendered voiceless and used as political expedience every day, Refugee Tales is more necessary than ever.’ shorturl.at/Fl5Z7 @rsliterature.bsky.social @commapress.bsky.social @aviddetention.bsky.social
4 days until we set off on our solidarity walk and it’s going to be a hot one! Sun hat and water bottle packed ✔️🌞 Few remaining walk tickets at RefugeeTales.org and we can’t wait to meet all the walkers 👣✊🏾Thanks for your support!
Hot day. Warm heart? 💛 Feeling appreciation for your sunny life? 🌞Spare a moment to think of those in small cells in indefinite immigration detention & please consider joining The Big Give in #SmallCharitiesWeek and helping to fund our frontline work donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05WS… 💐
We’ve been astounded 💥 by support for our @biggive.bsky.social call for support for our frontline work. 📣Just 3 days to go. Will you show your support for our work please? 🌟https://donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05WS000004b4QXYAY
We’re excited to be in The Big Give’s Small Charity Week! From 23 - 30 June, every donation will be match funded and go twice as far!
💥 Mark your calendar!
📅 Check out our campaign page: shorturl.at/TbgG7
📣 We’ll remind you when The Big Give begins!
There was a cyber-attack on the Legal Aid Agency’s online digital services.
The Legal Aid Agency says "We believe the group has accessed and downloaded a significant amount of personal data from those who applied for legal aid through our digital service since 2010."
www.gov.uk/government/n...
Welcome walkers at the end of their solidarity walk in Wimbledon on 13 July. Our finale event includes Metronomes Steel Orchestra, actor Niamh Cusack and writer Patience Agbabi alongside experts by experience. Don’t miss! Book at RefugeeTales.org (photo credit: Lyndon Douglas)
Please also support the incredible work of @refugeetales.bsky.social /Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group GDWG.org.uk
The very way in which immigration is framed can lead to misunderstanding and hostility. Too much of the narrative works on a false binary option of "legal or illegal", missing the actual context, and that we are talking about people's lives.
www.migrantvoice.org/articles/ref...
The Conservative Party announced their Deportation Bill, to further normalise anti-migrant and anti-human rights rhetoric.
Well, we will continue to build an even stronger migration justice movement and a society that protects us all.
www.politics.co.uk/news/2025/05...
“The phrase “theory of change” has become popular in recent years, as in “what’s your theory of change?” Mine is that categories are leaky and anomalies abound. That change happens in complex, sometimes unpredictable ways, that it often unfolds with slow and indirect consequences, and that what ends up in the centres of power often begins in the margins and shadows. That stories have profound power and changing the story is often the beginning of changing the world.” Rebecca Solnit
Love this from Rebecca Solnit in The Guardian today on how deep social change is non-linear, and takes faith and creative persistence and eyes to see.
Our GDWG community recipe book ‘Tales from our Table’ (£22) launches today with dishes from around the world from our volunteers, walkers, staff and experts by experience. Email lara@gdwg.org.uk for more info. Thanks Lara and all who contributed #community
A zine and some poems printed out in translations in the foreground and a pile of books in the background.
Final prep for the zine workshop I’m facilitating with @lusignanmermaid.bsky.social
We’re working with parallel translations of poetry in Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Chinese, German, as well as images. Huge thanks to @refugeetales.bsky.social & @sidhepress.bsky.social for your generous contributions. ❤️
Roughly 1 in 2 people detained are eventually released back into the community, their detention having served no purpose!
👇See more info on this thread about: What are immigration detention centers like in the UK?
#ImmigrationDetention
🚨Since coming to power the government has continued to argue that Albania is a 'safe' country, despite the risks facing those seeking protection in the UK.
Our new briefing shows the harm this has caused Albanian survivors of trafficking - who make up nearly 1/4 of our clients. 🧵1/5
[New Blog 🖋️] Ria Rampersad explores how the UK’s court system fails Foreign National Offenders, where language accommodation isn’t just about translation but is shaped by 'stereotypical judgements and interpretation' — undermining fair trials and due process.
blogs.law.ox.ac.uk/border-crimi...
"I am almost 62 years old and I am only now able to give my life meaning without feeling trapped in a cage.”
Samuel Jarrett-Coker spent almost 50 yrs trying to resolve his immigration status, with the fear of deportation hanging over him.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Willow tree next to a river
Lake with swans
Group of people sitting and standing on the grass
Lovely @refugeetales.bsky.social walk today in the Lee Valley
I don't often ask people to write to their MPs. But I think they might listen to you on this, as it's so jaw-droppingly awful, and they're almost certainly unaware of it. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Please also write to the Environment Secretary: steve.reed.mp@parliament.uk Thanks.
Many congratulations from us all 🎉🌟♥️
Today, we attended the APPG on Detention & encouraged MPs to stand in solidarity with refugees & asylum seekers in detention.
'Detention is a life sentence for the crime of seeking safety from persecution' @rainbowmigration.bsky.social
Together, we can end #ImmigrationDetention🧡
Walking in solidarity may seem an unusual form of activism to you but it’s creative as it builds community as we walk; a beautiful community manifestation of making change one step at a time. Book to walk with us in July, we walk from Southwark to Wimbledon over 5 days - tickets at RefugeeTales.org
Read @aviddetention.bsky.social's review of @mfbosworth.bsky.social's Supply Chain Justice: "[I]t is people who are the 'product' — people who arrive or stay in the UK and are subject to detention, people who are sorted, managed, moved, and monetised."
www.aviddetention.org.uk/article/refl...
“Packages don’t do that.” If you have any interest in immigration detention and removals you should stop what you are doing and listen to this. Incredible research by @mfbosworth.bsky.social. soundcloud.com/refugeestudi...
In a decision today, the Court of Appeal upheld a JR brought by @medicaljustice.org.uk, which argued that the Home Office is required to consult it before introducing any policy affecting the immigration detention of ‘adults at risk’.
👏✊
Blue skies assured 😉 as we walk to the same horizon of a better imagined on our July walk. Want to live a taste of the community you wish to see? Take 5 days away from your everyday life and walk in solidarity with us www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/refugee-ta...
Need help with your eVisa or dealing with an expired Biometric Residence Permit or Biometric Residence Card? 🤳
LSG Migrants have organised a drop-in session on Saturday, 15 March from 12:00 - 16:00 at the Migration Museum, Lewisham, SE13 7HB.
➡️ instagram.com/p/DHBlJ8ZscV4/
📢 | NEW BLOG: Moving from temporary status to citizenship is the cornerstone of a fair immigration system. But recent policy announcements signal a shift towards instability and precarity. This blog makes the case against a reactive, short-term approach. Read more 👇
“In a country with just 1.5mn citizens, the revocations affected nearly 3 per cent of the entire population…” on.ft.com/3DgmQQN
#WalkInSolidarity with @refugeetales.bsky.social 👣💫✊🏾