COVID-19 IMPACTS ON IMMIGRATION DETENTION: GLOBAL RESPONSES NGOs are asking for the opportunity to meet with Government and to use this juncture as a chance to strategically consider the necessity of detention. At the time of writing there has been no response from the UK Government. Against this backdrop, some recent changes to the UK’s detention centres are worth noting. In July 2020 it was announced that a large facility in Lincolnshire, Morton Hall, would be re-roled from a detention centre to a foreign national prison12. In August 2020 the notorious Yarl’s Wood, the UK’s only dedicated detention centre for women, changed its status to a short-term holding facility for people reaching the UK via Channel crossings13. These developments have created uncertainty amongst civil society, with initial celebrations about closures almost immediately followed by an unease about immigration detention in other forms. The challenge now for civil society is to ensure that the learnings from the reduction in numbers in immigration detention during COVID-19 can be captured and utilised. It could also be an opportunity for the Government to consider more broadly how it might manage people subject to immigration control in the community rather than via indefinite detention, building on the alternatives to detention pilots it has already committed to. Whether either will rise to the challenge remains to be seen. ALI MCGINLEY Director, Association of Visitors to Immigration Detainees (AVID) MISHKA PILLAY Campaigner and a writer with lived experience of immigration detention 12 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-53517836 13 https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/aug/18/yarls-wood-to-house-arrivals-from-small-boats-crossing-channel idcoalition.org | westernsydney.edu.au/hadri 57