Friday 15 May 2009

OUTRAGE AT DUNGAVEL CHILD DETENTION.



OUTRAGE AT DUNGAVEL CHILD DETENTION.



DETENTION OF CHILD BREAKS MURPHY'S PROMISE

SNP MSP Christina McKelvie has expressed her anger over the dawn raid by UK Borders Agency on a woman and her son who are now being detained at Dungavel.

Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy committed in October 2008 to ending the detention of children at Dungavel.

Central Scotland MSP Ms McKelvie whose constituency includes Dungavel said;

"It has never been right to detain a child in Dungavel and there is no excuse for the UK Government's actions today.

"This is a clear and disgraceful breach of Jim Murphy's promise to end the detention of children and breaks the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

"Only days after the Scottish Government announced a joint pilot with the UK Borders Agency to provide alternatives to locking innocent children up in Dungavel the UK Immigration Agency has done just that.

"The UK Government are detaining a child born in Scotland in an immigration centre that is not fit for children. This is an absolute disgrace.

"Jim Murphy has repeatedly failed to answer questions on the number of children held in Dungavel or to guarantee that no child would be held there in future. Today we know atleast one child is in Dungavel and that is one too many."

1. The detention of a woman and her four year old son at Dungavel is reported here;
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/8050550.stm

2. The Scotland Office commitment to end detention of children at Dungavel is here;
http://www.scotlandoffice.gov.uk/scotlandoffice/9722.html

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