This morning our office has written to the Home Secretary Sajid Javid MP to call for the UK Government to end all detention of under-18s for immigration purposes.
Together with Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, we are urging swift and decisive action by the Government to meet its legal obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the European Convention on Human Rights.
Every child has a fundamental right to liberty and freedom from detention. Furthermore, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has asserted that the detention of any child because of their or their parents’ migration status constitutes a child rights violation.
We are concerned that, despite undertakings given by the Home Office, a BBC investigation has revealed that children are still being detained in Scotland, at Dungavel immigration centre, South Lanarkshire.