Prison Organizing: Immigration Detention

Martin Sisay was one of 191 immigrant detainees being held at Central East who went on a historic hunger strike in 2013 to resist indefinite detention. Martin went without food for 40 days. The hunger strike was organized by and for prisoners, and organically supported by various organizations on the outside.

 

This was the largest hunger strike in Canadian history and brought the issue of immigration detention into the public’s eye, culminating in several successful court challenges around indefinite detention – and even resulting in Martin making a successful application for humanitarian and compassionate grounds to remain in Canada himself.