Scottish commissioner to investigate treatment of asylum seeking children

The children’s commissioner for Scotland today pledged to look
at the way asylum seeker children whose claims have failed are
deported, writes Amy Taylor.

Speaking at Community Care Live Children and Families
in London, Kathleen Marshall said that she would also examine the
effect deportations had on other children.

Marshall said that she had heard about families being taken from
their houses early in the morning with no notice and that she was
concerned about the effect it had on the children concerned.

She added that she was also concerned about the distress caused
to the child’s friends at school when they were removed and that
sometimes their friends didn’t have a chance to say goodbye.

“What message does that send out to other children in our
country?” she said.

Marshall explained how a head teacher had told her that when a
child was removed it was as if they had died with no one having any
knowledge of what had happened to them.

She added that deportations with no notice also caused other
asylum seeker children to be scared that they could be next.