Visitors Groups: A Refugee Week Celebration
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In this post, Ali McGinley, Director of the Association of Visitors to Immigration Detainees, and a member of the Border Criminologies’ Advisory Group reflects on Refugee Week and discusses the role played by those who visit the women and men held in UK immigration detention centres.

AVID began in 1994, started by a group of individuals visiting near Gatwick, concerned that the volunteer groups providing befriending support for detainees should have access to standardised training and information to carry out this important role. A volunteer visitor is a source of practical and emotional support and advice during someone’s detention, they act in lieu of friend or family to those who very often have no one else to turn to. It is a very demanding volunteer role, but one which emerged from a very basic human concern to ensure that those isolated and incarcerated for immigration purposes can access a friendly face and a listening ear.

AVID still provides training to visitors groups on issues they may come across while visiting, such as how to deal with vulnerable people, how to support yourself as a visitor, or detention policy and practice. We also now provide development support to groups, one to one advice and guidance, and resources like our popular monthly immigration digest In Touch and the Handbook for Visitors. We bring groups together so they can learn from one another and share experiences at our annual Coordinators Conference. We also work to achieve positive change in the detention system through collating an evidence base on conditions and treatment, and providing advocacy support on a range of issues to our membership. AVID has grown to become a national voice on detention, but the membership of visitors groups remains very much at the core of our work.
Over the last 20 years, visitors groups have developed and expanded, with many now providing other services alongside volunteer visiting. Supporting people when they leave detention, providing services for asylum seekers in the community, raising awareness in schools, and undertaking research into detention are just some of the activities undertaken. However, several of our member groups are still much smaller, wholly volunteer led, coordinating visiting through local community facilities and operating on a shoestring. Whatever their stage of development, they all play an essential role in bringing issues to light that would otherwise remain hidden. As the ‘eyes and ears’ of a detainee on the outside, very often it is visitors who are able to describe the daily realities of detention, and they are often the first to identify problems and concerns in conditions and treatment. This ranges from the very serious breaches of Article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights with regards to the treatment of mentally ill detainees, to more everyday concerns such as availability of legal advice, access to the internet or mobile phones.

Despite these challenges, volunteer visitors numbers are growing, something which we can take heart from in today’s increasingly ‘hostile environment.’ AVID has recently welcomed two new visitors groups, who have been able to find their feet much more quickly by tapping into the expertise and experiences of others in our network. It is also testimony to the groups themselves that many volunteers do stay involved for lengthy periods. It is a volunteer role like no other in terms of being able to genuinely have an impact.
Visitors were recently described to me as providing “the human and emotional connections needed to engage broader audiences on detention,” and it is this which has become so important in recent years, and on which we must continue to build. Without visitors, the experiences of detainees will remain largely hidden and unheard, and we must continue to make sure this doesn’t happen.
As part of its 20th anniversary celebrations AVID is undertaking a ‘Visitors Testimony project’ to record the experiences of visitors and detainees over the last 20 years, ensuring these stories are collated and shared. To help fund this project, please consider a small donation. Text AVID20£10 to 70070 to donate £10.
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How to cite this blog post (Harvard style):
McGinley, A. (2014) Visitors Groups: A Refugee Week Celebration. Available at: http://bordercriminologies.law.ox.ac.uk/visitors-groups-refugee-week/ (Accessed [date]).
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