Britain: Asylum-seekers detained under prison-like conditionsBy Niall Green
7 August 2003The Blair government’s asylum and immigration policies have led to the incarceration of entire families in a network of detention centres across the country. Hundreds of men, women and children are held in prison- like conditions, having been forcibly removed from the communities in which they had settled. Estimates suggest that over 50 children are held at any one time, usually for several months.
Asylum-seekers, classified as “failed” or “high-risk” by the Home Office, are sent to these centres for indefinite periods, usually prior to deportation. In most cases, claims for asylum are rejected because of minor technicalities such as the immigrant not having applied promptly enough upon entering the country.
Asylum-seekers pulled in by Immigration Service officials are often separated from their families and bundled off to detention centres with little explanation of what is happening to them. Handcuffed or in cages, people convicted of no crime are transported to and from these centres in high-security vehicles. Once at their place of detention, the asylum application process itself becomes far more difficult as the centres are often hundreds of miles from lawyers or support services.
The Labour government has faced particular criticism for holding entire families in these facilities, even those with young children. Families of up to five are made to share one room, while single men live in dormitories. There is little in the way of education and recreation, even for children removed from school. Tauhid Pasha, legal and policy director of the Joint Council on the Welfare of Immigrants, said, “We hear that children do not get enough play time, the level of education is inadequate, they do not get enough access to the outside world or the chance to interact with their peers. Detaining asylum-seekers is questionable but detaining children who have done no crime and whole families is unconscionable.”
Home Secretary David Blunkett blandly described the detention of children as “regrettable.” Blunkett cynically claimed that the current detention policy was driven by concern for child welfare: “Where it is necessary to detain individuals with children, we believe it is better that the children remain with their parents rather than split up the family.”
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http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/aug2003/asyl-a07.shtml