AADD

Action Against Detention and Deportations

We are Action Against Detention and Deportations (AADD), an autonomous collective of groups and individuals resisting detention, deportations, and the wider “hostile environment” against migrants in the UK.

We are refugees, asylum seekers, migrants, comrades, and community members coming together to fight the UK’s racist and colonialist immigration policies that harm us, our families, friends, and communities.

Not Rwanda, Not Anywhere

In spring 2024, the UK government started rounding up people and detaining them to deport them to Rwanda. This is part of the disgraceful deal that the UK struck with Rwanda to permanently expel people from the UK to the central African country. The first Rwanda deportation flight was grounded in 2022 after protests, direct action and legal intervention. But the government's cruelty continues, and they have even said they want to expand this horrific deal with other countries.

The Rwanda plan is only the most recent example of violence by the UK state against people who come to this country. The UK has a vast and violent detention regime, which is expanding with hotels and other accommodation being turned into immigration prisons. Recently, this includes converting a military site in Manston, Kent, into an internment camp and the Bibby Stockholm barge into a floating ‘death trap’.

The impact of these policies on people cannot be understated: from the perilous journeys made ever more dangerous by the closure of safe routes, to the physical violence of detention and forced deportation, to the mental anguish suffered by those detained with uncertainty or left destitute with the threat of expulsion to a place they have never known hanging over their heads.

The only way we can fight against this violence and injustice is by coming together. We stopped the first deportation flight to Rwanda before, and the UK Supreme Court has ruled the plan unlawful. Despite this, the government is pushing through, again planning deportations that they claim will start in summer 2024.

In the meantime, they also passed horrific new laws including the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, Illegal Migration Act 2023, and the outrageous and misleadingly titled ‘Safety of Rwanda’ Act 2024, as well as desperate attempts to clamp down on dissent and our right to protest through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and Public Order Act 2023.

Join the Resistance

You can find information about upcoming actions by checking out our linktree, Twitter or Instagram, or get in touch at againstdetentiondeportations@gmail.com.

We have fought and won against racist detention and deportations before. We won against the first Rwanda flight, and we will win again.

We know the government’s cruelty and violence do not represent our communities. And we owe it to each other to protect each other and build communities that flourish from the ashes of racism, colonialism, and capitalism.

Our actions are rooted in solidarity with people experiencing detention and deportations. AADD members aim to hold regular solidarity actions outside reporting centres and detention centres across the country to show our solidarity with people locked inside, build power against this system of cruelty, and share our rage at the government and all those who profit from this violent injustice.

The No To Hassockfield Campaign hold monthly demos on the third Saturday of each month outside Derwentside IRC, and Lesbians & Gays Support the Migrants (LGSM) and other groups are organising regular demonstrations outside the centres close to London.

We know that protesting or taking part in direct action is not possible for everyone, so there are lots of ways to get involved! You can also support by sharing your knowledge, language and translation skills, or by amplifying the work of groups resisting detention and deportations.

We operate on a mutual aid basis. You can support the movement by contributing to our mutual fund to help make our resources and actions more accessible. Most detention centres are difficult to get to. We aim for any action we support and organise to be as inclusive as possible, so we always appreciate contributions to help with travel support and other assistance where possible.

Help raise £1500 to fund transport costs to Manston Camp demoWeʼre raising money to fund transport costs to Manston Camp demo. Support this JustGiving Crowdfunding Page.

About Us

We first came together as a coalition in 2022 in response to the government’s escalation in violence against migrants and refugees in the form of the Rwanda deportation plan. You can read our founding statement here.

We are a non-hierarchical coalition, which means that we organise and take action through collective decision by the groups that make up AADD. We see our role in the movement as bringing together our strengths and resources to support autonomous action in each of our local communities, as well as coordinate joint actions.

We are not a charity or formal organisation, and we are run entirely by members of the network and fund our actions through crowdsourcing and members of our network.

Our members include: