Lowkey added to speakers for “Behind Locked Doors: Immigration Detention in Prisons Exposed”
Rapper and campaigner Lowkey completes the speaker line-up for “Behind Locked Doors" on the 29th January 2020
Rapper and campaigner Lowkey completes the speaker line-up for “Behind Locked Doors: Immigration Detention in Prisons Exposed” which will take place on 29th February 2020.
Lowkey will join award-winning journalist May Bulman, public law solicitor Toufique Hossain, a former BID client and the BID’s Prison Project manager Jess Bicknell to speak at the event which draws attention to the hidden yet regular practice of detaining people in prison for immigration purposes. Over 200 people have already registered for free tickets to the event which can be reserved here.
Speakers:
- Mr L, former BID client who was detained in prison under immigration powers
- Lowkey, rapper and campaigner challenging the status quo by exposing the inner workings of global power structures and issues relating to race, war and global poverty.
- May Bulman, Social Affairs Correspondent at the Independent, renowned for her revelatory immigration and asylum stories
- Toufique Hossain, Director of Public Law and Immigration at Duncan Lewis, currently preparing a wide ranging legal challenge to the lack of legal aid advice in prison
- Jess Bicknell, BID Legal Manager overseeing our Prisons' Project which provides legal advice and representation to people detained under immigration powers in prisons
Every year in the UK hundreds of people are being held in immigration detention in prison. At the end of a custodial part of a sentence, instead of being released back into the community, many prisoners who do not have British citizenship continue to be locked up while the Home Office begins the process of deporting them from the UK.
Many have lived in the UK most of their lives and some have even been born in the UK. And yet they have no automatic legal representation and are forced to navigate the complex process themselves.
Denied access to legal advice and grappling with inadequate communication, people in this position find themselves isolated and fearful. To compound this, many prisons operate a system in which prisoners are locked in their cells for 23 hours, rendering coping with legal challenges well-nigh impossible.
BID has long opposed the use of prisons for immigration detention. We say that it is simply unacceptable that those facing potential deportation should face the double punishment of detention in prison with all its attendant disadvantages.
Join us to hear from our speakers about what it’s actually like to be detained in prison, about how we have, and intend to in the future, challenge this system legally, and why BID has a dedicated prisons’ project.
[Please note the first half an hour of this event is the BID AGM for members only. Refreshments will be available in the foyer for other guests during this time]
Programme:
- 6.00pm Welcome and formal business of the AGM (Members only)
- 6.30pm Behind locked doors: Immigration detention in prisons exposed
- 8.00pm Refreshments and networkin
- 9.00pm Event close
A special thank you to Clifford Chance for hosting us and enabling this event to take place.
There is no charge for this event but booking is essential. We will allocate seats on a first-come, first serve basis. This venue is wheelchair accessible. Travel expenses are payable for unwaged asylum seekers or migrants by prior arrangement - please contact Kamal on 020 7456 9753 to discuss further.
