About LDSG

LDSG aims to improve the welfare of immigration detainees, primarily those held at Harmondsworth and Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centres near Heathrow Airport in London. Immigration detainees can be held indefinitely, and their detention is not automatically reviewed by the courts. Most detainees are asylum seekers whose claims have been refused. Many experience extreme isolation and distress, knowing no-one in the UK and with very limited understanding of the language, law, their rights and entitlements. Many are traumatised by their experiences in their home country, by finding themselves detained with no release date, and by the prospect of being forcibly returned. LDSG’s work is firmly based on our humanitarian principles and we continue to support all immigration detainees in Harmondsworth and Colnbrook, irrespective of their faith, background and ethnicity, in a non-judgmental manner. Founded in 1993 by a group of volunteers informally visiting detainees in the original Harmondsworth detention centre, LDSG has gradually increased in size over the years as more funding has been obtained, allowing us to recruit and supervise more volunteers. LDSG is independent of the Home Office and of the detention centres. Around 70 LDSG volunteers are visiting individual detainees every week to 10 days, to provide emotional support and practical help. We also have a small team of three full-time staff and several office volunteers, who run a detainee freephone service and offer non-immigration advice and casework. In January 2009 LDSG launched the "Detained Lives" campaign to end indefinite immigration detention. LDSG has been supporting increasing numbers of people detained for periods of years with no prospect of deportation. Many are de facto stateless, while others are from countries that are too dangerous for them to be deported. They are left in limbo in detention, often at great cost to their mental health. To coincide with the launch of the campaign, LDSG published the "Detained Lives" research report, which presents evidence of the ineffectiveness and the human cost of the practice of indefinite detention. The report was based on powerful testimony from 24 current detainees held for more than a year, as well as quantitative research into the effectiveness of indefinite detention. The report is available [url=http://www.ldsg.org.uk/files/uploads/detainedlives-web.pdf]here[/url]. Please visit the campaign website at [url=http://www.detainedlives.org]www.detainedlives.org[/url]. The 2008-2009 annual report is temporarily unavailable. Please email info@ldsg.org.uk for a copy. Download the 2007/08 Annual Report [url=http://www.ldsg.org.uk/files/uploads/2008annualreport.pdf]here[/url]. Download the 2006/07 Annual Report [url=http://www.ldsg.org.uk/files/uploads/07annualreport.pdf]here[/url]. [i]LDSG is funded by:[/i] The 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust AB Charitable Trust AW.60 Charitable Trust Barrow Cadbury Trust The Bromley Trust City Parochial Foundation Doughty Street Chambers The Eleanor Rathbone Charitable Trust Helen Tetlow Memorial Fund The Henry Smith Charity Jill Franklin Trust The LankellyChase Foundation Matrix Chambers The Norda Trust Odin Charitable Trust The Rowan Charitable Trust Sir Halley Stewart Charitable Trust The Tudor Trust Charity registration no. 1065066. [url=http://www.detainedlives.org]www.detainedlives.org[/url]

This article comes from London Detainee Support Group http://www.ldsg.org.uk/files The URL for this story is: http://www.ldsg.org.uk/files/modules/content/index.php?id=1