The following looks at some of the resistance to the UK's migrant prisons (known as "detention centres" or "immigration removal centres") from both detainees and campaigners in the last ten years. It is far from exhaustive and is a work in progress.

Detention of immigrants in the UK was codified in the 1971 Immigration Act and has been practised on a large scale since the mid 1980s. Unlike in many other EU countries there is no time limit on immigration detention.

Aside from the detention centres and residential short term holding facilities (STHF) listed below, the UK holds thousands of people under immigration detention rules in HM Prisons every year. Migrants are also detained at STHFs at ports and airports, in cells at reporting centres, and in police custody.