External Resources

Support Groups for Detained People:

  • Friends Without Borders - A charity that provides support for asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants within the Portsmouth area.

  • Samphire - Supporting people who have experienced immigration detention.

  • Beyond Detention - The visitors group for Yarls Wood IRC near Bedford.

  • Scottish Detainee Visitors - Supporting people detained in Dungavel IRC and influencing policy on detention.

  • Refugee Tales - Rooted in the work of GDWG, Refugee Tales highlights the way immigration detention is experienced and uses walking and tales to call for change. 

  • Association of Visitors to people held in immigration detention (AVID) - Since the closure of Campsfield House detention centre in Oxfordshire the group now support people in detention elsewhere, unaccompanied children in Oxfordshire, advise people on a wide range of immigration issues and teach English to refugees.

  • Asylum Welcome‍ ‍- Since the closure of Campsfield House detention centre in Oxfordshire the group now support people in detention elsewhere, unaccompanied children in Oxfordshire, advise people on a wide range of immigration issues and teach English to refugees.

  • BID (Bail for Immigration Detainees) - A charity that prepares and presents bail applications for detained people.

  • Detention Action - The visitors group for Harmondsworth and Colnbrook detention centres at Heathrow, and national campaigning organisation on detention issues.

Legal Help

Government Sites

  • Find your MP - Site that will locate your local MP.

  • UK Visas and Immigration - Home Office department dealing with responsibility for immigration.

Other Useful Sites

  • Amnesty International - International human rights organisation – produce reports on individual countries.

  • Asylum Aid - Charity providing advice and legal representation to asylum seekers and refugees.

  • Asylum Support Appeals Project - Organisation who advice and information about entitlements to accommodation and financial support for asylum seekers.

  • Freedom From Torture - Organisation that provides care and rehabilitation to survivors of torture.

  • Human Rights Watch - Produces human rights reports on individual countries.

  • Independent Asylum Commission - Published reports into the asylum system in the UK. Website archived.

  • Liberty - A human rights organisation that challenges injustice, defends freedom and campaigns to make sure everyone in the UK is treated fairly. They have a helpline to support people in detention with making a complaint about their treatment.

  • Medical Justice - Doctors and other experts helping people access their medical rights from detention.

  • Paper Boy - News website with links to many of the world’s newspapers.

  • Red Cross International Family Tracing - Try to restore contact between families separated by armed conflict or natural disaster.

  • Red Cross Refugee Services - The British Red Cross provide practical and emotional support to refugees and asylum seekers in the UK. Their website highlights a number of services and educational resources for refugees and asylum seekers.

  • Refugee Action - Refugee Action is an independent national charity that works with refugees to build new lives in the UK.

  • Refugee Council - National charity campaigning and providing practical assistance for asylum seekers and refugees.

  • Right to Remain - Voluntary organisation providing advice on anti-deportation campaigns.

  • Stop the Traffik - Working to support trafficked people in the UK.

  • UNHCR - The UN refugee agency – useful site with news on current refugee crises and refugee convention.

  • Voices in Exile - Local Brighton group supporting destitute asylum seekers in the community.