Let's meet up to visit Refugees in the Immigration Detention Centre

Hi dear supporters/new members, my apologies for the this long silence but I've been quite busy assisting the other groups in visiting and supporting asylum seekers and their families in Bangkok during last months, something which gives everyone involved satisfaction and a great feeling!

I'm glad for being able to contact you again and hope we could meet up next Monday to visit some of the asylum seekers who need your care!

Here some brief information on our upcoming visit/meet up plan:

IDC opens for registration from 8.30am, Mondays to Fridays only!

You need to take your passport plus a copy of the photo page and the page showing your current visa. Each page must be signed and have the name and number of the detainee you are visiting on it. We meet at the café opposite the detention centre on the corner of soi 5 at around 8:45 - 9:00 to organize who each of us are visiting before we go over to the Detention Centre to get our forms. At the IDC, hand over the photocopied pages which you have signed and written the name and IDC registration number of the detainee you are requesting to visit at the reception window. The official will give you another form to complete and sign the back of. On completion, you line up again and present these forms to the reception desk and the official will tear off the bottom showing the detainee's name/number - you keep this to place in the basket with any goods to be screened.

We generally go back out onto the street and walk up to the local market to purchase some fruits and vegetables - green bananas, mandarins, apples, a few carrots, snow peas, beans, baby corn etc., packs of fruit juice, milo or plain milk, a few treats for the children, and sometimes 3 in 1 coffee or noodle cups are requested. Personal toiletries are also often requested e.g. soap, shampoo, toothpaste, tooth brush, talcum powder, basic moisturizing lotion, hair brush, sanitary pads, soap for cloths washing, mosquito spray. Books/periodicals are welcomed and study or activity books are often requested but sometimes pencils and playing cards are rejected by the guards and other times allowed to go through!. We share the cost of these items. No tins or glass containers are allowed.

Back to the cafe for a coffee and sorting the purchases into individual packs - try to find small to medium containers as there is no room for the detainees to store anything and large containers will not be approved by the guards. Then clearly write the name and IDC number on the outside of each pack.

Return to the IDC around 10.20am and line up with your goods.

When the gate opens - go in and find a plastic basket to place you items for the detainee . Put the slip of paper with their name and number on it on top of the goods in this basket. Take your passport and handbag /personal items to the front desk and they will give you a visitor card and locker key to secure your personal items. Attach the visitor’s card and locker key to yourself. (Your passport/ID Card will be held as a "deposit" and returned to you when you leave and return the pass and locker key.)

Collect your basket and proceed through to security. Ensure the piece of paper with the detainee’s name and IDC number is clearly visible on top of the basket.

Place the basket on the table while you receive a security check. Then proceed through to the wire grill and try and find the person you have requested to visit.

Visiting is from 10.30 to 11.30am and it is often difficult to converse with the person you are visiting, as it is very noisy. We try and give any mothers separated from their sons’ time to themselves before they are returned to their separate detention areas, therefore the time we spend talking with the detainee is 10 -15 minutes. They can pass notes or letters visa the guard requesting items for you to bring on your next visit, or sometimes letters they would like you to post on their behalf.

When visiting is over, retrieve your personal items from the locker and return the key and visitors card and they will return your passport to you.

Looking forward to meeting you soon!

Amir