MURPHY CHALLENGED OVER CHILD DETENTIONS.

MURPHY CHALLENGED OVER CHILD DETENTIONS.

LATEST CASE BREAKS PREVIOUS PROMISE,

Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy has been challenged to explain why children are still being locked-up in Dungavel detention centre almost a year after he committed to ending the practice.

SNP Shadow Scotland Office spokesperson Angus MacNeil MP called on the UK Minister to honour a pledge to end child detentions after Florence Mhango, 32, and her ten-year-old son Tionge were held after a raid at their Glasgow home this week. The family, originally from Malawi, are now incarcerated Dungavel.

This most recent detention undermines a commitment made by Mr Murphy in October 2008 to ending the detention of children at Dungavel.

Mr MacNeil said:

“It has never been right to detain a child behind barbed-wire in Dungavel and there is no excuse for the UK Government's actions this week concerning ten-year-old Tionge Mhango.

“Jim Murphy said last year that these detentions would end – and they have not. The Secretary of State must explain why children are still being locked up by his government.

“My understanding is that the Mhango family have been compliant with immigration authorities, yet the UK Government are imprisoning a youngster in a facility that is not fit for children. It is an absolute disgrace, and not something that should happen in Scotland today.

“The SNP has had a long-standing commitment to ending this practice and has repeatedly called on the UK Government to act - not only in practice but in law through the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.”