Unfree labour in immigration detention: exploitation and coercion of a captive immigrant workforce

This paper focuses on labour within immigration detention in the United Kingdom, offering an original national case study as well as a new conceptual framework for analysing such practices. It does so through an innovative engagement with recent literatures on forced labour, unfreedom and hyper-precarity, particularly amongst irregular migrants. We advance two key arguments in this paper. First, that the available data on labour within immigration detention indicate that detainees should legally be considered employees and granted access to labour protections, including the national minimum wage. Second, that work in immigration detention is an example of state-sanctioned exploitative, coercive and unfree labour amongst a hyper-precarious group of the population. This case has implications for other country contexts where immigration detention is used.     

Chemical composition and structure of the microcrystals formed between silver(I) and gamma-hydroxybutyric acid and gamma-hydroxyvaleric acid

This study examined microcrystals formed by silver with gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) and gamma-hydroxyvaleric acid (GHV), the five-carbon analog of GHB, in the presence of silver, copper, and lanthanide nitrates. Distinct microcrystals formed with silver (+1) and lanthanum (+3) ions but not with the copper (+2) ions. The crystals formed with GHB were distinctly different than those formed with GHV and in all cases, the drug microcrystals were easily distinguishable from reagent crystals. X-ray diffraction analysis provided definitive structure for the microcrystals. The morphological differences between the silver-GHB and silver-GHV crystals were characterized using simple measurements such as size and angles provided by image recognition software. The utility of the test for casework was demonstrated using spiked beverage samples.     

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