In support of Refugee Tales' #28for28 campaign, the Bar Council is sharing space on its website to publish the stories of those who have experienced indefinite immigration detention in the UK and those who work with them. Many other organisations including the Royal Society of Literature and Literature Cambridge are doing the same.
Here you will find tales showing the fundamental power of literature to bring about change.
Abdulrazak Gurnah reads The Arriver's Tale.
Maxine Peake reads The Appellant's Tale.
Sameena Zehra reads The Lorry Driver's Tale.
Maggie MacCarthy reads The Barrister's Tale.
Andrew French and Mariam Haque read The Migrant's Tale.
Zoe Wanamaker reads The Student's Tale.
Jade Amoli-Jackson reads The Friend's Tale.
Niamh Cusack reads The Detainee's Tale.
Kamila Shamsie reads The Lover's Tale.
Christopher Eccleston reads The Witnesses' Tale.
Raphael Sowole reads The Chaplain's Tale.
Julie Hesmondhalgh reads The Dependant's Tale.
Olivia Laing reads The Abandoned Person's Tale.
The UK is the only country in Europe that detains people indefinitely for administrative purposes and without judicial oversight under immigration rules. Rooted in the work of the Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group, and supported by the University of Kent, Refugee Tales shares the tales of those who have been indefinitely detained in immigration detention. To highlight the call for a 28 day time limit for immigration detention, Refugee Tales is releasing 28 tales online - one each day over 28 days on the website www.28for28.org. Writers and actors lend their words and voices to asylum seekers, refugees and people in indefinite detention. The Bar Council supports Refugee Tales' call for an end to indefinite detention.
#28for28
Through Refugee Tales, writers collaborate with asylum seekers, refugees and people in indefinite detention who share their stories. Taking Chaucer's great poem of journeying - Canterbury Tales - as a model, writers tell a series of tales as they walk in solidarity with detainees. As they walk, they create a space in which the language of welcome is the prevailing discourse.