Last week, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Immigration Detention held a meeting to address the harms of immigration detention. The event brought together MPs, Peers, and experts to shed light on the specific risks and lasting impacts of immigration detention, particularly for LGBTQI+ people.
Alongside other panellists and with Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP as the Chair, Joel Mordi, Nigerian activist, shared his harmful experience in detention: “I also stand here as a survivor of the UK’s immigration detention system: a system that dehumanises, traumatises, and endangers those it claims to process with dignity”.
As Joel described, “for many of us detained LGBTQI+ individuals, every day in detention is a fight for survival. we are locked away with people who see our identity as a threat. We are placed in a system where reporting abuse often means retaliation, or harsh rebuttal. not justice. And we are left in an environment where mental health support is inadequate”.
Despite the well-documented dangers faced by LGBTQI+ people in detention, the government’s ‘Adults at Risk in Immigration Detention’ (AAR) policy, which identifies groups that are at risk of harm in detention and makes it less likely they will be detained, doesn’t currently include all the LGBTQI+ community. Joel talked about the importance of including lesbian, gay, bi and queer people alongside trans and intersex people in the policy.
Another crucial ask that we, together with Joel, put forward was for this government to remove the categorisation of vulnerability based on evidence levels and to instead presume not to detain people at risk of harm other than in very exceptional circumstances.
A few weeks ago, Bell Ribeiro-Addy tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) on LGBTQI+ people in immigration detention, which so far has been signed by 20 MPs. EDMs are parliamentary proposals that can help highlight important topics and put pressure on the government to take action. The event was a good opportunity for MPs to find out more about the impact of detention on LGBTQI+ and to gather more EDM signatures.
As Joel put it: “To the UK government, I say this: If you believe in human rights, end the detention of LGBTQ+ people. If you claim to stand for dignity, stop placing refugees in harm’s way.
Detention is a life sentence, it further breaks already vulnerable and traumatised LGBTQ+ individuals, it only strips away never giving anything of value but lifelong trauma.
Detention is forever; detention bail only means one thing “it’s too late” the damage is already done. But as the saying goes, broken crayons still colour, but not everyone will find purpose in pain; others will go on to break others (hurt people hurt people), you see one thing about society: we are excellent in pointing out the problem but never our role in creating that problem. It is not what we say it is what we do, will you join us and act for our cause?”
As this government is currently reviewing its AAR policy, the meeting was important to raise awareness and urge for meaningful policy change.
If you want to support our ‘No Pride in Detention’ campaign and call for an end to LGBTQI+ detention, join us, Ben & Jerry’s and over 3,100 people who have already signed in telling Ministers to act now.
You can also read Joel’s full speech.