My name is Desmond Nwose. I am 10 years old. My favourite subject is maths and I would love to be a successful solicitor so I can fight for people's right, but I am not too sure now because I have no future and I was told by the people who broke down our door to arrest me and my family that we do not have the right to stay in the UK.

Up until that Monday morning (20th April 2009), I used to think that it was a free world where human beings are treated equally. Unfortunately on that ill omen day it was not to be so, as I was already dressed up as usual for school when I heard the bangs on our door with people marching in like what I experienced in Africa. I tried so hard not to wee on my body with fright. They kept saying 'you are going back to Africa don't pack more than one bag, you do not need boots or coats where you are going mate'. I can still hear those voices in my head. They were so rude and hushed us like criminals out of our house with our uniform on to detention centre. I felt so ashamed in the neighbourhood been taken to the back of a van like in the movies.

I think detention is meant for bad people who have done wrong in the society and they end in jail. I have done nothing wrong now I have a criminal record and I am an ex convict because I have come to the UK to be safe with my dad.

My experience in Yarl's Wood prison was terrifying, like in a concentration camp in the war movies I watch on TV. We always stood in a queue for our meals and were always counted before we went to bed and every day they lock us in the rooms at night after counting and making sure we were complete. My sister is still in shock after all the experiences from this horrible place. sometimes I wish I sleep and don't wake up anymore because all this is too much for my family to bear.

Ice & Fire performed a section of Asylum Dialogues at the Bradford City of Sanctuary launch recently. I was spellbound by the testimonies of a refugee and her Glaswegian neighbour, who sheltered her from arrest and deportation when her door was knocked down by Immigration Officers early one morning.

There's a wonderful story and video on the Guardian website about the Glasgow group which is supporting people seeking sanctuary:

Philip Pullman, Monica Ali, Nick Hornby have joined the New Statesman's 'No Place for Children' campaign.

The campaign is calling for an end to the detention of 2,000 children a year in UK Immigration Removal Centres.

Children in detention centres do not have access to adequate healthcare and education, and they can be held for an unlimited period of time. The psychological and physical effects are often devastating.

There is an online petition here.

City of Sanctuary has had some good media coverage lately, including an article in The Guardian, and a series of articles and an interview podcast on the well-known world politics website Open Democracy.

Owen McDowell, from Sheffield City Council's Asylum Team, died last week. It was a shock to all of us who worked closely with him and he will be very much missed.

The funeral will take place on Friday 14th March at Grenoside Crematorium at 2.45 pm and afterwards at the Hillsborough Hotel, Langsett Road.

The family have requested no flowers but donations to ASSIST via the funeral directors John Fairest, 10-56, Penistone Rd North Wadsley Bridge Sheffield, S6 1LQ Tel: 0114 234 3129.

Last week I went with my family to the Karen people's New Year celebrations - 2747 according to their calendar, at Abbeydale Grange school. The little girl pictured above in traditional Karen costume was one of the dancers who performed in front of a packed audience, which must have been over 300 people - and all of us were fed with a hot meal of spring rolls, chicken and rice dishes.

The Karen people are refugees from Burma, whose villages are regularly attacked by the military junta, and who are forbidden to speak their language or practice their culture in their own country. Sheffield's Karen community lived for many years in jungle refugee camps on the Thai border, with no prospect of a safe return to Burma, until Sheffield agreed to welcome them through the UN Gateway Protection Programme.

What impressed me most about the celebrations was the enormous efforts that the Karen community are making to build relationships with local people - to tell their stories and share their culture, and to invite people to get to know them. They also spoke about the welcome they had received in Sheffield, and how much it means to them to be able to live in freedom, for the first time in their lives.

They also had the most beautiful hand-made skirts, jackets and bags for sale, to support their people in Thailand. If there are any entrepreneurs out there with a fashion business, Karen clothing could be a big opportunity... (I bought clothes for both my children and a bag for my wife, and I'm not usually known as an impulsive buyer.)

This is a crucial time of opportunity for all those who are concerned for the rights of asylum-seekers and refugees in the UK. At the same time as a change in Prime Minister and senior government decision-makers there are some historic efforts being made by citizens' groups to re-think and reform the whole asylum and immigration system. At the Churches Refugee Network conference in London last weekend, there was a sense of urgency and purpose amongst those working with asylum-seekers and refugees around the country about the possibilities that are opening up to contribute to real change. We heard from Austin Ivereigh about the Strangers into Citizens campaign for a 'pathway into citizenship' for undocumented migrants (including refused asylum-seekers) who have lived in the UK for over four years. This is a proposal which would eliminate the backlog of hundreds of thousands of migrants who can never realistically be deported, and who are condemned to lives without basic legal rights in the shadow economy. There is more information on Strangers into Citizens, including migrants' own stories at www.strangersintocitizens.org.uk. Yvonne Mahlunge is a Zimbabwean human rights lawyer and founder member of the Movement for Democratic change. She gave a moving account of how, after having advised her clients on making asylum applications, she was finally forced to apply for asylum herself, and the humiliation and deliberate obstruction that she encountered from the asylum system. Another important initiative was presented by Jonathan Cox from the Independent Asylum Commission, which is conducting a thorough national review of the whole asylum system, with the involvement of senior members of the judiciary and other influential establishment figures. The IAC is collecting evidence of people's experience and views of the asylum system for its report, which will emphasise practical recommendations for reforming the existing system. Information on how to contribute evidence and views is available at www.independentasylumcommission.org.uk. Reports from the group Medical Justice, which focuses on the health needs of asylum-seekers in detention, emphasised the intolerable suffering imposed on vulnerable people by arbitrary and indefinite detention in Britain's Immigration Removal Centres. The need for fundamental change is urgent, and we now have opportunities to work towards an asylum system which treats people with fairness and dignity. The conference gave us a flavour of harmony and joy too, with uplifting performances from the Ugandan Acholi Choir and Pentecostal Gospel music from the local Redeemed Christian Church of God (pictured). It was a powerful reminder of the gift of the presence of asylum-seekers, refugees and migrants in our communities. View a video of the Redeemed Christian Church of God choir here.