The new Immigration Minister Damien Green has just announced the end to child detention at a centre in Scotland.
However the article goes on to say
From now on, families detained north of the Border may be sent to Dungavel to undergo initial health and welfare screening but would then be moved to Yarl’s Wood, in Bedfordshire, which has specialist family and child facilities and support services. The Pakistani family - Sehar Shebaz, and her baby daughter - whose incarceration hastened the development were due to be transferred today from Dungavel to Yarl’s Wood
This isn't good enough. Child detention at Yarls Wood must stop as well.
Showing posts with label yarls wood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yarls wood. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
A Seasonal Missage from the UK Border Agency
This is the kind of thing which makes satirists quit.
Talking of the Borders Agency, you can see video footage of St. Nicholas being turned away from the Yarls Wood detention centre, it sounds like they tried beforehand to arrange it but 'oh yes, what a great idea to brighten things up for the children' wasn't the response recieved back.
Phil Ritchie says it so much better than I can. Original source Ekklesia.
Next year's card will be a picture of a CCTV camera with the message 'Mary and Joseph, we know where you are', signed by Mr Herod at the deparment for community cohesion, with a 100 page insert detailing in complicated English how to work out your points score.
Talking of the Borders Agency, you can see video footage of St. Nicholas being turned away from the Yarls Wood detention centre, it sounds like they tried beforehand to arrange it but 'oh yes, what a great idea to brighten things up for the children' wasn't the response recieved back.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Mary & Joseph, don't you flee to England.
Following the Santa/White Witch incident a few days ago, more pressure for an end to the policy of imprisoning innocent children just because they happen to be related to asylum seekers. A new report from medical professionals has called for an end to the detention of children as part of our immigration policy:
Many of the children are held at Serco-run Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre in Bedfordshire while their parents await deportation.
Children in such circumstances were already among the most vulnerable in the UK and the harmful effects of arrest and detention only added to their difficulties, the report said.
It said almost all children seeking asylum suffered injury to their mental or physical health due to being detained, some seriously. The current provision of mental and preventative healthcare was inadequate, the report said, and made recommendations for improvement.
Professor Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said children in immigrant families were already disadvantaged and vulnerable.
"Detaining children for any length of time - often without proper explanation - is a terrifying experience that can have lifelong consequences," he said. "As well as the potential psychological impact, these children invariably experience poor physical health as they cannot access immunisation and preventative services."
Full report here, one family's story here. It's a sobering thought that if Jesus family had fled to the UK in 2009, rather than Egypt in AD3 (or thereabouts), Jesus would have been locked up for up to two months in a privately-run prison. Welcome to the UK, land of the free and home of civilisation. Yes of course we have to protect our citizens against people coming here to do us harm, but there must be a better way than this.
Facebook group Maries Law was set up earlier this year to highlight the same issue.
Many of the children are held at Serco-run Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre in Bedfordshire while their parents await deportation.
Children in such circumstances were already among the most vulnerable in the UK and the harmful effects of arrest and detention only added to their difficulties, the report said.
It said almost all children seeking asylum suffered injury to their mental or physical health due to being detained, some seriously. The current provision of mental and preventative healthcare was inadequate, the report said, and made recommendations for improvement.
Professor Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said children in immigrant families were already disadvantaged and vulnerable.
"Detaining children for any length of time - often without proper explanation - is a terrifying experience that can have lifelong consequences," he said. "As well as the potential psychological impact, these children invariably experience poor physical health as they cannot access immunisation and preventative services."
Full report here, one family's story here. It's a sobering thought that if Jesus family had fled to the UK in 2009, rather than Egypt in AD3 (or thereabouts), Jesus would have been locked up for up to two months in a privately-run prison. Welcome to the UK, land of the free and home of civilisation. Yes of course we have to protect our citizens against people coming here to do us harm, but there must be a better way than this.
Facebook group Maries Law was set up earlier this year to highlight the same issue.
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