A rare High Court ruling in favour of better treatment for at least one group of ‘illegal migrants’ has been announced. This was the BBC headline telling the story:
Routine Housing of Children in Hotels Unlawful
But what will then become of those children? Could they be shipped north to Derwentside? Here’s why it could be being considered.
Our women-only detention centre is certainly never near full capacity. Statistics published in the Independent Monitoring Board Report for Derwentside Women’s IRC show graphically how underused the expensive County Durham detention facility is. With the government bracing the public for a continued need to house what are now legally called ‘illegal migrants’, the solutions are getting increasingly desperate. “Tents!” is the latest one reported around the world:
Weathersfield detainees in tents?
Why should locking up children in Hasssockfield be a non starter? Here’s one reason. The report reveals how few visits have been made to the remote IRC by loved ones – ‘ten in-person social visits during the year’ made to the 520 women housed there. This is in stark contrast to visitor numbers in other centres. Such isolation is cruel for the women incarcerated there. But for children and young people it should not be countenanced.
Our post photo (credit Simone J Rudolphi) was taken at a recent monthly demonstration outside Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre. We’ll be shouting to the rooftops if children are ever brought here except as visitors. The terrible legacy of the site’s previous uses, as Hassockfield and Medomsley (read more on our Home Page), should never be given a chance to be repeated.
We have sent the Independent Monitoring Board Report to all MPs in our region
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