Build power, never give up, and keep shining a light on the darkest places
Lessons for funders from the Brook House Inquiry
In November, we held a briefing for independent funders about the first ever public inquiry into the use of immigration detention in the UK. The Brook House Inquiry should be recognised as a ground-breaking achievement, providing a strong basis for further campaigning on ending indefinite detention in the UK.
The briefing heard from inquiry core participants Medical Justice and focused on the years of work that went in to making the public inquiry happen, exploring how determination and collaboration from NGOs helped to secure the findings. It also highlighted that work to challenge detention needs funding and support, particularly with the expanded detention powers being introduced by the Illegal Migration Act.
This blog highlights three lessons from the conversation: work together to build power; never give up; and keep shining a light on the most difficult issues.
What was the Brook House Inquiry?
The Inquiry was set up to investigate the mistreatment of people detained at Brook House, following the airing of the BBC panorama episode “Under-Cover: Britain’s Immigration Secrets”, on 4 September 2017. It exposed the dehumanising abuse of vulnerable people held in immigration detention by the Home Office. The Inquiry found the safeguarding system in detention to be “dysfunctional”, resulting in a failure to protect detained people. Vulnerable people were exposed to the risk of mistreatment and were subjected to actual harm; within a five-month period there were 19 incidents of credible breaches of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits torture, inhuman and degrading treatment. (For more information, this press release by Medical Justice contains a good overview of the key findings along with some calls to action).
What needs to happen next?
Our briefing heard how NGOs, people with lived experience of detention, medics, lawyers and campaigners are working together to build on the recommendations, including a time limit on detention of 28 days.
As speakers at the briefing pointed out, it is important to seize this “historic opportunity” to push for change. In the coming months, NGOs will be looking to mobilise and use the findings not only to gain justice for victims and to prevent further abuse from happening, but also as a powerful tool in challenging the harmful Illegal Migration Act.
The briefing highlight three key lessons for funders of social justice work:
Build power by working together
The range of strategies used to secure the inquiry and win support for change is testament to the vitality of the social justice field. Many campaigns call for a public inquiry when there is injustice or harm, but very few succeed in having one. The Inquiry shows that failures in detention are systemic, and the evidence generated can now be used in advocacy, influencing and strategic litigation. Now is the time to recommit to this work and continue to push for change, ensuring that organisations have the resources and relationships they need to work together. We know from our research that migration charities are often siloed from wider movements to build power and that building alliances is a key priority. Funders could help to support this by making resources available for detention NGOs to continue to build alliances and support human rights and racial justice organisations to include a focus on detention.
Never give up
At a time when project funding runs mostly in cycles of two or three years at most, it is important to recognise that achieving deep, lasting change takes time, and short-term funding could undermine success.
This inquiry happened because of the persistence and creativity of NGOs, lawyers and campaigners, many of whom have lived experience of detention. They have spent decades working with doctors to document and record harm. As we heard on the call, this work has been supported by a small group of donors but it has been a long intensive process — at least 15 years. At a time when project funding runs mostly in cycles of two or three years at most, it is important to recognise that achieving deep, lasting change takes time, and short-term funding could undermine success.
Keep shining a light on the darkest places
Detention is dehumanising and brutal as this extract from the Inquiry report shows:
“A “toxic culture” prevailed at Brook House, fuelled by the “prisonisation” of the centre. Brook House was found to be a “breeding ground for racist views” with a routine use of racial stereotyping, abusive and derogatory language by custodial staff. The Chair described this as a “culture of dehumanisation of detained people”.
Relatively few independent funders support work on immigration detention, though our panel pointed to the longstanding commitment from their funders which has helped underpin their efforts. In the run up to the general election, whichever party holds power in the next parliament, we have to keep working to shine a light on the darkest places. Funders are an important part of this ecosystem.
Next steps for funders
In terms of practical actions funders can take now to explore this issue, we suggest:
- Reaching out to organisations who are leading the efforts for change — you can see some suggestions at the bottom of this briefing
- Sharing the example of this inquiry as a testament to the power of hard work and persistence and the need to build on this for the future
- Connecting with peer funders who have supported detention work over the years to learn why they support this issue
Contact us on mex@global-dialogue.org if you need any support to explore this issue further. We would be happy to connect you.
Our thanks to Emma Ginn (Medical Justice), Dr Rachel Bingham (clinical advisor to Medical Justice) and Stephanie Harrison KC (Barrister for Garden Court Chambers representing Medical Justice in the Brook House Inquiry).
Many organisations are pushing for changes on immigration detention. We have included the links and resources below, in case these are not already familiar to you:
