Two classrooms of children could be detained each day under the new Illegal Migration Bill, reveals Citizens UK and Together With Refugees today (27 June 2023), as school children and community leaders demonstrate outside Parliament to call for an end to refugee child detention.
A classroom of school children on Parliament Square wrote messages of support on giant teddies for the two classrooms a day of refugee children who could be detained under the Illegal Migration Bill. They were joined by a children’s choir and refugee artwork. The Bill, which is being voted on tomorrow (28 June) in the House of Lords, would allow for children who arrive in the UK via unofficial routes, such as small boats across the Channel, to be locked up with no time limit. They would have no opportunity to apply for asylum, regardless of the war zones or persecution they have fled.
Those in attendance today were demanding the Government listens to parliamentarians from across the political spectrum who are calling for these measures to be dropped. During the earlier Committee Stage of the bill in the House of Lords a Conservative-led amendment called for the Government to stick to their 2014 commitment of ending refugee child detention.
Nadia (not her real name), a Citizens UK leader who was trafficked into the UK in 2015 and was detained at 18 years old, said: “Detention is mental torture. Children should never be in these spaces and should never be deprived from their freedom. The impact this has on a child’s life and development is immeasurable. Children should be free to grow in a safe environment where they can play and learn. Please protect our children and stop child detention.”
Ijeoma, a Citizens UK leader, who was 3 years old when she came to the UK and was detained as a child, said: “No child should ever go through detention. Imagine putting your child in prison for a week – how would that feel? No child should have their lives damaged by the physical and mental effects of being in such an environment. We must fight to end this despicable practice and provide kids a future free of trauma.”
Professor Helen Storey, Centre for Sustainable Fashion, University of the Arts London (UAL), a Citizens UK member, said: “As an educator, I believe the UK cannot – and must not – lock up refugee children. Faced with multiple global crises, we live in a world where ever-increasing numbers of fellow human beings are forced to flee their homes. We need more than words to show our solidarity and to shine a light on inhumane policymaking. Working alongside displaced people, we can use the power of creativity to envision and shape alternative outcomes for children threatened with detention when reaching our shores, and to shape better lives for us all.”
Child detention for refugees was ended by a Conservative government over a decade ago as a result of years of campaigning by Citizens UK, which led to a landmark commitment by the Government and was written into law in 2014.
The Illegal Migration Bill would hugely expand the Home Secretary’s powers to detain people. Alongside the new duty to remove, the Home Secretary has the power to detain anyone who arrives in the UK without prior permission, including children, whether they are lone children or with their family. The government has not ruled out the use of force on pregnant women and children. There is no time limit for how long someone can be detained for. Current time limits were introduced following serious harm that vulnerable people faced in detention centres. Under the new law, these vital safeguards would no longer apply. This in effect allows for the indefinite detention of children, including unaccompanied children.
Leading medical bodies, including the BMA, Royal College of GPs, Royal College of Psychiatrists, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and the Faculty of Public Health have all raised concerns about the impact of the Bill on children’s mental and physical health. Before the routine detention of children in the UK ended in 2014 medical experts found that almost all detained children suffered a significant deterioration in their mental and physical health as a direct result of their detention. Reported child mental health difficulties included emotional and psychological regression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), clinical depression and suicidal behaviour. Significantly, the consequences of being detained continued to impact children’s lives and well-being long after they were released. Children who are detained also don’t have access to appropriate education that meets their needs and are cut off from interacting with peers, which can have long-term effects on their development.
Ends
Notes to editors
References
[1] https://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/information/resources/illegal-migration-bill-impact-assessment/
*The classroom figure has been derived from the Refugee Council’s assessment that up to 45,000 children could be detained over three years if the Illegal Migration Bill passes as currently proposed. This figure includes accompanied and unaccompanied children and only related to children who claimed asylum, either in their own right or as part of a family unit.
**names changed to protect identity
[2] https://www.citizensuk.org/about-us/news/ending-child-detention/
[3] Current time limits for detention are: 24 hours for separated children; 72 hours for children in families; and 72 hours for pregnant women. Detention beyond those limits requires ministerial approval.
[4] Leading medical bodies sound the alarm over detaining refugee children, 19 June 2023: https://togetherwithrefugees.org.uk/leading-medical-bodies-sound-alarm-over-putting-refugee-children-behind-bars/
[5] Evidence from pre-2011 UK child detention is available here: Intercollegiate Briefing Paper: Significant Harm – the effects of administrative detention on the health of children, young people and their families
About Citizens UK
Citizens UK uses broad-based community organising to build the power of local people to lead change for the common good and strengthen civil society institutions.
We have diverse alliances across the UK made up of over 550 civic organisations who develop their own local agendas whilst also uniting around campaigns across the country. Organisations work together to make change by winning concrete commitments from public and private sector bodies.
Over the last thirty years, this has driven some of the biggest campaign impacts in the UK, such as winning £1.7bn in additional wages for low-paid workers. Some of our local campaigns have grown into large-scale social change projects including the Living Wage Foundation, Parents and Communities Together (PACT), and Sponsor Refugees.
You can read more about our Refugee and Migrants Welcome work here: https://www.citizensuk.org/campaigns/refugees-and-migrants-welcome/
About Together With Refugees
Together With Refugees is a coalition of more than 500 national and local organisations representing refugees and people from all walks of life who believe in showing compassion to refugees fleeing war and persecution. The coalition is calling for a better approach to supporting refugees that: allows people to seek safety in the UK, no matter how they came here; ensures people can live in dignity while they wait to find out if they will be granted protection; and enables refugees to rebuild their lives and make valuable contributions to their communities. It also wants the UK to work with other countries to do its bit to help people forced to flee their homes. Find out more at www.togetherwithrefugees.org.uk and @RefugeeTogether on Twitter
About Creative Contributors
“I am a Stranger” and “Refugee”
The children’s choir from St Antony’s Catholic Primary School, Forest Gate has used the power of music and community organising to win change. They have sung to win the support of Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London to win a real Living Wage and successfully won Living Wage campaigns on London City Airport and Tate & Lyle.
Manifestos for a Compassionate Future
Dr Francesco Mazzarella, Senior Lecturer in Fashion and Design for Social Change, London College of Fashion, UAL and his refugee collaborators will be showcasing three textile banners co-created by the participants in the ‘Decolonising Fashion and Textiles’ project who will also perform the manifestos they wrote as their collective visions for a more compassionate future.
All Snakes No Ladders
Kate Keara Pelen, Head of Creative Projects, AKO Storytelling Institute, UAL has stitched fragments of red, white and blue cloth together in the form of a familiar board game, modified so that jeopardy abounds. Emblazoned with a plea for a child’s right to play and with contributions from asylum seeking children, All Snakes No Ladders is designed as a prompt to engage with the perils of the UK immigration system.
Dress For Our Time
Helen Storey, Professor of Fashion & Science, Centre for Sustainable Fashion at London College of Fashion, UAL created ‘Dress For Our Time’ to highlight the link between climate change and migration. The dress toured the world, eventually leading Helen to the gates of Zaatari Refugee Camp, Jordan, where she has been working on projects of female empowerment, wellbeing, and livelihoods. Her aim is to use multiple forms of co-creation and collaboration to tangibly better refugee life in Syrian and African refugee camps.