News releases
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Children's Commissioner's reaction to health practitioners' report on the harmful effects of immigration detention on children and young people
10 December 2009
Responding to the policy statement from the Royal Colleges of Paediatrics and Child Health, GPs and Psychiatrists and the UK Faculty of Public Health on the harmful effects of immigration detention on the health of children, young people and their families, Sir Al Aynsley-Green, the Children's Commissioner for England, said:
"Today's report adds another voice to the growing calls to end the practice of detaining children and young people for immigration purposes. The findings outlined in this policy statement are too grave to ignore. I know that the Government is working towards improving the treatment of children caught up in the immigration system and I welcome the commitments made so far, particularly those to develop community-based alternatives to detention. But I remain deeply concerned with the number of children who are detained for immigration purposes and the length of time which some are held. I am unconvinced that detention is always used as a last resort and for the shortest possible time. Being taken away from the communities they know to be held in prison-like conditions, when they have committed no crime, is extremely stressful for these children and young people. It is time for this inhumane practice to end."
