'State of Children’s Rights in England' report criticises UK Government for detaining migrant children and separating families
The twelfth State of Children’s Rights in England report reveals that, despite the Government’s commitment to ending child detention, 203 children were detained in 2013. (1) Seventy of these children were less than five years old.
The report is published on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It also criticises the Government’s practice of splitting migrant families by detaining parents without their children. It notes that, due to legal aid cuts ‘families may not be able to challenge decisions by the Home Office to permanently separate them, even when these decisions are unlawful.’
The report finds that the Home Office is considering the possibility of using physical force to remove asylum seeking and migrant children from the UK. It notes that this would breach the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has previously recommended that the UK Government should end child detention, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that children should never be separated from parents for the purposes of immigration control.
Sarah Campbell, Research and Policy Manager at Bail for Immigration Detainees, commented:
‘We wholeheartedly support the report’s recommendations that the Government should end the immigration detention of children, and stop separating migrant families by locking up parents'.
‘The psychological distress experienced by children in immigration detention is well documented. (2)
‘Children who are split from detained parents describe losing weight, having nightmares, crying frequently and becoming deeply unhappy.(3) We urge the Government to implement this report’s recommendations without delay.’
Contact: Sarah Campbell, Research and Policy Manager, Bail for Immigration Detainees: 07803 630 406
Notes
(1) In May 2010 the coalition Government committed to ending the immigration detention of children. Cabinet Office (2010) 'The Coalition: our programme for government', p21.
(2) See for example Lorek, A. Entholt, K. et al. (2009) “The mental and physical health difficulties of children held within a British immigration detention center: A Pilot Study” Child Abuse and Neglect Vol. 33 Issue 9, pp573-585; Children’s Commissioner for England (2010) Follow up report to: The arrest and detention of children who are subject to immigration control
(3) Bail for Immigration Detainees (2013) 'Fractured Childhoods: the separation of families by immigration detention'
(4) CRAE will launch its State of Children's Rights in England 2014 report on Wednesday 19 November in the Jubilee Room in the Houses of Parliament.
(5) 20th November 2014 is the 25th anniversary of the UN’s adoption of the UN human rights treaty for children – the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The UK agreed to uphold the standards in the Convention in 1991. The UN Committee on the Right’s of the Child will examine the UK’s compliance with the Convention in 2015.
(6) The Children’s Rights Alliance for England is a charity working with over 100 organisational and individual members to promote children’s rights.
(7) Report available from CRAE’s website: www.crae.org.uk from 00.01 19 November 2014
