Summary:

UK Borders Agency defy Deputy PM Nick Clegg and continue immigration detention of children.

http://www.crin.org/docs/Medical_justice.pdf

Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg branded the immigration detention of children as 'state sponsored cruelty'.

On 21st July 2010 Nick Clegg said that Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre would close .

The next day the UK Borders Agency confirmed that Yarl's Wood would close for the detention of children .

Despite Nick Clegg's announcement, UKBA have detained children at Yarl's Wood as recently as Monday.

Today Medical Justice publishes its report "'State Sponsored Cruelty': Children in immigration detention", presenting the key findings from the UK's first large scale investigation into the harms caused by detaining children for immigration purposes.

"The fact that UKBA is still detaining children at Yarl's Wood despite announcements to the contrary raises serious questions about the consistency between the will of government and the actions of UKBA. The government must now show it is in control of UKBA. It must order and ensure the release of any detained children today and stop what the Deputy Prime Minister correctly refers to as 'state sponsored cruelty'. The dossier of evidence we are publishing brings to light the extent to which detaining children cases harm, suffering, and anguish. Children have attempted to end their own lives, and have been left seriously physically and psychologically damaged".
Jon Burnett, Medical Justice, author of "'State Sponsored Cruelty': Children in immigration detention"

Further information

• Safe at Last? Children on the front line of UK Border Control (Refugee and Migrant Justice, March 2010)
  

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• 03/09/2010: BRAZIL: Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
• 03/09/2010: Groundbreaking Workshop to Establish Foster Care Programs in Ethiopia
• 03/09/2010: Children's Voices. Experiences and Perceptions of European Children on Drug and Alcohol Issues
• 03/09/2010: Children on the Move - Leaving Home

Contact Information:

86 Durham Road
London
N7 7DT
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)207 561 7498
Email: info@medicaljustice.org.uk
Website: www.medicaljustice.org.uk

Last updated 09/09/2010 03:07:48

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