Every year, around 30,000 people in the UK are locked up in prison-like conditions, with no time limit. This is not because they have committed a crime, but for the purposes of immigration control and enforcement. Tens of thousand more people live in fear of being detained. Detention and the threat of detention affects staff and students at universities in Manchester, and members of the local community. It's time to get informed, and take action.

Staff and students at the University of Manchester, Medact Manchester, Manchester Postcolonial Studies Group and These Walls Must Fall are bringing together a panel of practitioners, academics and experts by experience to raise awareness of immigration detention and look at what we can do on and off campus to take action.

Speakers include:

Dr Rebecca Farrington: GP and Senior Clinical Lecturer

Louise Tomkow: Medical Doctor and Researcher

Denise McDowell: Director, Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit

Mariam Yussef: Campaigner, Women Asylum Seekers Together

Panel chaired by Dr Rubina Jasani, Lecturer in Humanitarianism and Conflict Response, University of Manchester.

Speaker biographies:

Louise Tomkow, Medical Doctor and Researcher, University of Manchester/ Medact

Louise is a medical doctor with nine years' postgraduate experience in the profession. She has subspecialised in Geriatric Medicine, enjoying the holistic and wide-ranging practice this speciality encourages. She has an interest in health inequalities. She has spent time working in Malawi and India and has a MA with distinction in Humanitarianism and Conflict Response. She is currently studying for a PhD at the Humanitarianism and Conflict Response Institute. The ESRC funded project seeks to examine how forced migration impacts on health in later life, and therefore integrates her interests of ageing, global health and inequality. Additionally, Louise works as a volunteer Medico-Legal Report writer for Freedom from Torture and is an active is part of Medact Manchester, group of healthcare professionals who campaign on issues of social justice.

Dr Rebecca Farrington, Senior Clinical Lecturer, University of Manchester

Dr Farrington is a former MSF field doctor in the 1990s (Thai-Burmese border, Liberia, South Sudan and Afghanistan). Now GP with special interest in Refugee and Asylum Seeker Mental Health for GMMH trust. Senior Lecturer Community Based Medical Education, Division of Medical Education, UoM. GP in South Manchester.

Denise McDowell, Director, Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit

Denise is Director of the Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit, which has been supporting people subject to immigration control for over 25 years.

Mariam Yussef, Campaigner, Women Asylum Seekers Together

Mariam is an expert by experience and campaigner with Women Asylum Seekers Together. She arrived as a refugee from Somalia in 2008, and has herself experienced immigration detention. She works tirelessly to raise awareness about immigration injustice and the underreported problems that force women to seek asylum, and was honoured as Woman of the Year in the Women on the Move Awards 2016.

Event is free but please register for tickets via Eventbrite.

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/2135788096747998/