Clegg: Yarl’s Wood family wing to close

PIL has welcomed the announcement by the Deputy Prime Minister on 21 July that the family wing of Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre is to be closed.

The firm acts for two families who allege that their “dawn raid” arrest and prolonged detention at Yarl’s Wood in February 2010 amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment. Their case, which represents a frontal challenge against the policy of child and family detention, is expected to be heard by the High Court in October with the human rights group Liberty intervening. The Centre has been roundly criticised by the Children’s Commissioner, by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons, by NGOs and by Baroness Nuala O’Loan in her March report.

Speaking at his first Prime Minister’s Questions, Nick Clegg explained the imperative to end child detention at Yarl’s Wood:

“It is simply a moral outrage that last year the Labour government imprisoned behind bars 1,000 children who were innocent of any wrongdoing whatsoever... This coalition government... will once again restore a sense of decency and liberty to the way in which we conduct ourselves.”
The Immigration Minister, Damien Green, had previously announced a review into ending child detention.

Concerns remain, however, over the strength of the Government’s commitment to bringing about a complete and prompt end to child detention. PIL recently invited it to concede the Suppiah and Others case on the basis of its apparent repudiation of the former Labour Government’s policy. Child detention, being unnecessary and incapable of being operated in a way that promotes the best interests of the child, had to be unlawful, both at common law and in terms of the Human Rights Act 1998.

PIL’s invitation was met with a flat refusal, with the Home Secretary’s lawyers asserting that the current policy of child detention remains in place. Despite its rhetoric, the Government continues to fight vociferously the position that child detention for immigration purposes is unlawful. PIL understands that even following Mr Clegg’s statement, children continue to be transferred to Yarl’s Wood for indeterminate periods of time.
 
Speaking today, Jim Duffy of PIL welcomed the Deputy Prime Minister’s announcement:

“Yarl’s Wood has for too long served to undermine the value our country purports to place upon protecting the vulnerable. Its closure must now be brought about swiftly so that the best interests of the child are reinstated at the heart of immigration control.”

For further information, contact Jim Duffy on 07912 691 727 or Phil Shiner on 0121 515 5069.

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