Asylum seekers removed from UK in waist and leg restraints, report finds Inspection reveals use of force after protest by detainees being deported under ‘one in, one out’ scheme

🚨 People seeking safety are being restrained at the waist & legs on flights under the UK–France “one-in, one-out” deal.

Our joint statement warned this last month:
excessive force, and deepening harm-all built into the policy itself
End the scheme. End detention.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Rwanda arbitration case set to have long term influence on UK asylum policy A dispute between the UK and Rwanda over a cancelled bilateral asylum deal is due to be heard at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in March. Commentators say it’s a case that could have long-term imp...

💸The Rwanda saga continues.

UK tried to deport people to Rwanda under an unlawful, inhumane scheme. Now Rwanda is taking the UK to arbitration, demanding millions in payments.
'Externalisation comes with real legal and political costs'
Human lives caught in between
www.ibanet.org/Rwanda-arbit...

Listen to this podcast episode featuring some of our network members!

@andrianifili.bsky.social @gee-manoharan.bsky.social @wellcometrust.bsky.social @aviddetention.bsky.social

With new EU deportation rules advancing this week — as the LIBE committee backs a version pushed by the far right — immigration detention and its violence are being normalised across borders.

The same carceral logic harming thousands every year is expanding.

Listen to this conversation 👇

Removed Animation: Take Action Now! Removed is not just a story; it’s a call to action. Read on to find out more about Removed and how you can get involved.

Do one thing this #InternationalWomen'sDay?

Will you please share our animation with your network?

Because if we are serious about gender justice, it must include migrant women, trans people, and everyone targeted by border systems.
www.aviddetention.org.uk/article/remo...

Removed: What Really Happens in UK Immigration Detention? YouTube video by AVID Detention

Detention is a system that polices borders and bodies at the same time.
For women & trans people in particular, that can mean isolation, misgendering, abuse, and the denial of safety

Our animation Removed was created to make visible what detention systems try to hide
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtLr...

🌍Today is International Women’s Day.

Across the world, women are being celebrated.

But UK government continue to lock people inside immigration detention centres.

Women.
Trans people.
Non-binary people.
Men.

We’re excited that our animation Removed is screening today at @nnfilmhouse.bsky.social

As immigration detention expands in the UK and globally, these creative spaces will open conversations and bring hidden realities to new audiences through art.

If you are near,come & join: tinyurl.com/2zkzwrpp

Barriers to Disclosure: A survivor of trafficking’s journey through the immigration process Some in Government insist that modern slavery claims are being used to get in the way of deportation attempts. This narratives misses that in fact, claims of experiencing modern slavery are met with h...

Some in Government insist that modern slavery claims are being used to get in the way of deportation attempts.

This narrative misses that in fact, claims of experiencing modern slavery are met with huge barriers in immigration detention.

Senior Policy Officer, Dr Sophie Cartwright, has written for @bordercrim.bsky.social about access to legal advice in detention.

JRS UK's research last year highlighted how difficult it was for people in immigration detention to access any legal support.

📖Read more: www.jrsuk.net/accessing-le...

Failures in care of epileptic man who died in immigration detention, inquest hears Théophile Kaliviotis died in custody at Brook House immigration removal centre near Gatwick Airport

A man with epilepsy — held, failed, gone.

This gov argued that detention couldn't contribute to his death! How many warnings? How many pre-inquests? How many reports before we admit the truth?

If this system keeps killing people, why does it still exist?
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

We’re recruiting Trustees to join our Board.
Join us and play a vital role in supporting our work to promote the welfare and rights of people in immigration detention.
Deadline: 12 March 2026
To find out more: detentionaction.org.uk/become-a-tru...

Our Lives Are Not Border Policy MEWSo’s Conference in Light of International Women’s Day

🎫A very timely conferece by The Middle Eastern Women & Society Organisation to mark the International Women's Day [9th March].
It's crucial to shift beyond the usual celebrations and have a real, honest conversation about the systemic barriers. More info 👇
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/our-lives-...

Migrants launch court bid to halt one-in, one-out deportations to France Legal challenge comes as a coalition of UK and French charities issue a statement warning of widespread failures under the flagship deal

8/8 This scheme is cruel, dangerous, and unjust. We urge the government to stop this harmful scheme and establish reliable, and accessible safe routes that do not rely on the suffering of others. The statement has been reported by The Independent: www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

We are proud to stand with our colleagues and speak out about the harm caused by the UK-France Returns Agreement.

Follow the link in our bio to read our joint statement 🔗

Immigration Bail: Still a Struggle for Justice Join us in person to talk about why immigration bail is still a tough fight for fairness and justice.

📣 Tomorrow - AVID will be speaking at the launch of “Immigration Bail: Still a Struggle for Justice”

We’ll be bringing lived experience, frontline insight, what's not covered in the report & a clear message: Freedom must be real, not conditional
🔗 Register here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/immigratio...

UK and France asylum deal could violate human rights laws, warns UN Experts identify potentially serious breaches over treatment of people and call for ‘one in, one out’ scheme to end

We welcome this intervention from 07-UN experts asking UK–France gov to halt the one-in, one-out scheme, a policy that turned people seeking safety into bargaining chips & punishment targets.
It's clearly going against the UNHCR's own recommendation to expand this
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Share Hope with People in Detention - Ongoing Winter Solidarity Appeal Help us raise funds for visitor groups in the AVID network to counter the separation and isolation faced by people in immigration detention across the UK.

Support our work - Help us raise funds for visitor groups in the AVID network to counter the separation and isolation faced by people in immigration detention across the UK.

www.justgiving.com/campaign/sha...

If you’re wondering what to do:
🔹 Read detained people’s words
🔹 Share what’s being hidden
🔹 Support independent visiting and scrutiny
🔹 Question policies sold as “efficient” but built on harm

People seeking safety are not bargaining chips.

A text extract with white background, black font and last paragraph - a case study example have been highlighted by yellow highlighter. It says 'Examples: in one instance, a young person was picked up by immigration services without prior warning, on the day of his release in front of his parents, who had come to collect him, only to be released from immigration detention two weeks later! This picture also has a heart, comment, share and reshare signs.

We know that many are made vulnerable and dehumanized by the system.

Here is an example of minor or young person get detained by Immigration Enforcement straight out of YOI - in front of his parents and then gets released back 2 weeks later. This impact could be a life-long harm!

Independent clinicians from Medical Justice — doctors going inside IRCs — are clear:

This system prioritises politics over people.

Speed over safety.

Control over care.

Home Office Accused of Failing to Protect Vulnerable LGBT+ People in Immigration Detention LGBT+ detainees report being harassed and experiencing suicidal thoughts, with centres failing to follow official guidelines designed to protect them

At the same time, the Home Office is being accused of failing to protect vulnerable LGBTQ+ people in detention.

People already at risk are being placed in environments that actively harm them — while the government delays reform of the Adults at Risk policy.
bylinetimes.com/2026/01/21/h...

I risked my life to cross the Channel because I believed in British justice. But Britain is abandoning me | Anonymous The government has been trying to send me back to France under the “one in, one out” policy. The threats to my life there don’t seem to matter

💔A detained person writes in the Guardian:

“I had never seen a place like this… like something out of a prison drama. Phones taken. Drugs. Violence. Extremely dangerous.”

That’s immigration detention in the UK — today.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Politics over people? - Medical Justice How the UK’s “one in one out” knowingly harms and forcibly removes torture and trafficking survivors to France Medical Justice press release 21 January 2026 for immediate release Medical Justice today...

Under the UK–France one-in, one-out treaty, people are detained immediately — many without access to legal advice, safeguards, or safety.

📃Medical Justice has now documented the mistreatment of 33 people detained under this policy since August 2025.
medicaljustice.org.uk/politics-ove...

More than 100 asylum seekers stage ‘one in, one out’ protests at detention centres Officers with riot shields, dogs and teargas called in to quell action at Harmondsworth and Brook House facilities

🚨The state of immigration detention in the UK is deteriorating fast — and it’s being hidden behind slogans like “one-in, one-out”.

What’s happening now is not isolated failure.
It’s systemic harm.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

UK’s ‘one in, one out’ scheme has failed to protect torture survivors, says charity Medical Justice report finds Home Office approach has led to ‘near total disregard for identified vulnerabilities’

🗑️Here is another evidence to bin this policy!

According to Medical Justice's report: 18 of the 33 people they surveyed showed clinical evidence of torture or trafficking

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

⚡ Next Tue: hear from Seán Binder — a frontline voice against the criminalisation of migration and solidarity chaired by @hallamtuck.bsky.social
UK's new Border Security Act tightens, its threat isn’t just to people on the move, it’s to all of us who stand with them.
www.law.ox.ac.uk/content/even...

An inquiry into the "overcrowded, squalid and unsanitary" conditions forpeople at Manston detention centre in 2022 has been told to put those detained there "at the heart" of the probe.
www.itv.com/news/meridia...

[Update] Jesse Nicholls - legal rep supporting 75 clients of @duncanlewiss.bsky.social, 21 clients of @dpglaw.co.uk speak on the closing statement:

'Those detained at Manston were PEOPLE - HUMAN BEING - their lives matter. They should not be dehumanised based on their immigration status'

More than 100 asylum seekers stage ‘one in, one out’ protests at detention centres Officers with riot shields, dogs and teargas called in to quell action at Harmondsworth and Brook House facilities

Half of our team have direct experience of immigration detention - We are horrified seeing this!

📣Those protesting today are saying what should never need saying: people are not bargaining chips.

We stand with those demanding an end to detention!

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...