MPs call for policy of detaining asylum seeking children to end

July 11, 2006 in Asylum and refugees, Children

Pressure on the Home Office to end its policy of detaining asylum seeker children intensified today.

A group of MPs and peers condemned the increase in the use of detention for children over the past five years and called for the practice to stop.

The group, which made the comments in a new report published today, argue that there are growing concerns over the psychological and physical impact of detention on children.

The report, which was launched as part of the No Place for a Child campaign – an initiative being run by a range of charities including Save the Children and the Refugee Council, states that detaining asylum seeking children goes against the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and calls for alternatives to be used.

Alternatives to immigration detention of families and children from www.savethechildren.org.uk