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 20 July 2008 18:13 BST

Concern over child detainees

Tuesday, 28 Mar 2006 06:42
Concern over child detainees
More than 2,000 children of asylum seekers are detained in UK immigration centres each year, according to a new estimate.

The coalition of refugee charities that conducted the research is calling on the government to develop alternatives to custody for immigrants aged under 18, amid warnings about the welfare of children who are detained.

The Refugee Council, Save the Children and Bail for Immigration Detainees have denounced the detention of children in immigration centres as "inhumane and unnecessary."

Campaigners also want the Home Office to publish transparent figures about the exact number of children held in immigration centres with their families.

The charities are now compiling a joint report into alternatives to detention.

Refugee Council chief executive Maeve Sherlock said: "Detention is unnecessary, it's expensive and it's inhumane.

"There are viable alternatives which are far less costly in both financial and human terms."

Expressing concern about the welfare of children held at immigration
centres, chief executive of Save the Children, Jasmine Whitbread, said: "These already vulnerable children can find themselves forcibly removed from their familiar surroundings - home, school, friends, clothes and toys.

"They are locked up having committed no crime. This is no way to treat children."

The Home Office yesterday announced a review of the treatment of families awaiting deportation due to failed asylum claims, but immigration minister Tony McNulty made no commitments regarding the detention of children during a trip to Glasgow.track End of story


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