Children's Commissioner condemns detention of children
Children's Commissioner condemns detention of children
In his report published last month, the Children’s Commissioner for England, Sir Al Aynsley-Green, spoke out strongly against the trauma and distress caused to the 2,000 children detained in UK removal centres.
In a follow up report to the May 2008 report entitled 'The arrest and detention of children subject to immigration control,' Aynsley-Green argues that detention is harmful for children and urges the Government to halt the incarceration of children in the UK.
Aynsley-Green’s findings are based upon interviews with parents, staff and children during his visits to Yarl’s Wood detention centre in Bedfordshire. Bed-wetting and mood swings are amongst the symptoms of distress experienced by detained children, many of which go unrecognised and untreated by healthcare staff at the Centre.
Aynsley-Green advocates four areas for improvement:
· Better ability to assess psychological harm facing children in detention
· Higher standard of health care available for all children in detention
· Re-think policies on the use of force and separation of families
· UKBA to conduct an independent review of children in detention
In response to the Commissioner's report, activists including actress Emma Thompson, director Juliet Stevenson, and a number of Children’s laureates wrote a letter in support of the Commissioner’s report, and thousands more have signed the End Child Detention Now petition.