AVID Association of Visitors to Immigration Detainees
Registered Charity No. 1063784
BRIEF forPRISON VISITING GROUPS PROJECT
Background
AVID believes that people held in administrative detention under Immigration Acts are
entitled to the same basic human rights that citizens enjoy. The focus of our work aims to
achieve this aim through voicing the concerns of detainees, our member groups and our
nationwide network of visitors.
Current government policy is to expand the detention estate in the UK from just under 3000
places to 4000 by 20101. We anticipate at least one more Removal Centre will be built by
then; the new United Kingdom Borders Agency is currently exploring four options and a new
Centre is already under construction at Gatwick due to be operational by 2009. Prisons will
continue to hold post sentence foreign nationals with immigration cases.
We already support visiting groups to Liverpool prisons, Doncaster prisons, London Prisons and
HMP Lewes. After April 2006, when the decision was made by the Home Office to deport all
ex-foreign national prisoners (ex-FNPs) at the end of a twelve month sentence instead of
releasing them, some ex-FNPs were moved into the detention estate but others are held in
mainstream prisons after completing their sentence. We have received requests from prison
Chaplains for support for these men and women. We also know that there is a need for new
visitor groups to support ex-FNPs in prisons, because
HMP Canterbury is now a dedicated prison for immigration detainees, where there is no
visiting group with expertise in this area.
 HMP Bulwood is having to deal with immigration detainees post-sentence and felt the
usual prison visitors would be out of their depth
Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons has included AVID in conferences about the lack
of information and help for foreign national prisoners in general. At a conference
identifying the lack of a clear plan for support for foreign nationals, Anne Owers closed
the conference by reminding us that – “these are people, not just initials; there is a need
for a national standard, there is a need to be aware of lack of legal representation”.
Other evidence of the need for support in prisons has come from the Independent
Monitoring Board National Council Report on Foreign Nationals, April 2007 which sets out
clearly the difficulties they face and the lack of oversight and strategy to meet their
needs.2
We have now secured funding from the Sigrid Rausing Trust for a short term project to initiate
new visitor support for ex-FNPs. We intend to work in partnership with others in the sector
including Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID), Detention Advice Service (DAS) and the
Immigration Lawyers Practitioners Association (ILPA) who are involved in support work with
HMP Canterbury and other prisons.
Project Aims and Objectives
1
Home Office, Controlling our borders: Making migration work for Britain, 5 year strategy for asylum
and immigration, February 2005
2
Report on Foreign Nationals, April 2007 available at www.imb.gov.uk
The aim of the project is to facilitate the setting up of visitor groups required for ex-FNPs who
are detained under the provisions of the Immigration Acts.
The objectives of the project are:
1. To devise and implement a strategy for setting up volunteer visitor group to support exFNPs detained in three mainstream prisons: Bullingdon, Bulwood and Canterbury;
2. To provide training and support for visitors, working in partnership with relevant
organizations, particularly BID, DAS, ILPA ; and
3. To set out proposals on how AVID should take forward the work supporting detained exFNPs.
Expected Outcomes
1. 3 new visitor groups set up for Bullingdon, Bulwood and Canterbury;
2. Recommendations to AVID Trustees on the nature of what detainees need, what works
and what does not; where other groups should be set up.
An indicative work plan is suggested below.
Indicative Work Plan
Timeline
Initial 2 months
2 to 4 months
At about 4 months
Proposed Actions
Make contact with prison Chaplains, Governors, Foreign National
Prisoners Officers, Independent Monitoring Boards to establish nature of
need for support.
Meet with united KIngdonBorders Agency / Prison Service
Representatives particularly to discuss access
Contact local networks and agree strategy for building new groups
and networks
Organise events to attract volunteers as required
Meet/liaise with Immigration Lawyers Practitioners Assoc. and other
legal groups e.g. BID to set up referral process
Meet with Inspectorate of Prisons and discuss any difficulties of access
Provide training for volunteer visitors with open invitation to prison
representatives, e.g. chaplains/prison officers to attend
Information in leaflet form for visitors and detainees e.g. on deportation
procedures
Evaluate progress and review strategy
Evaluation
It is intended that the project will be externally monitored with a view to making
recommendations and bidding for further resources to take the work forward.
Candidate Characteristics and Requirements
The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate
Familiarity with immigration detention policy and practice
Experience of setting up organisations
Experience of working with and training volunteers
Ability to influence and work with prison officials, immigration officials and other
interested parties
Good written and verbal communication skills
Steering Arrangements
The Project Worker will be guided by a Steering Group, comprising 3 Trustees and an external
person with expertise in the Prison Sector. We expect that the project worker would meet with
the Steering Group about three times during the course of the project. At the end of the
project, the Project Worker will provide all AVID Trustees with a detailed report setting out the
project achievements and making recommendations on next steps.
The project worker will liaise with the contract lead for day to day matters (the Chariman pro
tem).
Applications
AVID has a sum of £12,000 available for a project worker to achieve the project objectives.
This sum includes all costs the project worker incurs in achieving the objectives. Pro-rata
payment will be made against monthly invoices to be provided by the project worker with
the final payment being dependent on successful completion of the project and
acceptance by the Trustees of the detailed report.
AVID welcomes applications, which should include:
- candidate’s Curriculum Vita together with an explanation of why the candidate is suitable
to undertake this project; and
- candidate’s proposed methodology for achieving the project objectives and thecandidate’s proposed timelined work plan
PO BOX 1496, OXFORD OX4 9DY
Email: coordinator@aviddetention.org.uk
Website: www.aviddetention.org.uk