Yarl's Wood family unit to close

Event Date:

Sunday, 1 August 2010

Standing in for David Cameron at last week's Prime Minister’s Questions, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced the closure of the family unit at Yarl’s Wood.

Describing the detention of children as a ‘moral outrage’ he stated that the coalition government would “once again restore a sense of decency and liberty to the way in which we conduct ourselves”.

His statement, that the government would “close Yarl’s Wood detention centre for good”, initially caused confusion however a Home office spokesperson later confirmed that only the family unit would close with the adult unit continuing to operate as an immigration removal facility.

Campaigners welcomed the announcement. A spokesman for the OutCry campaign described it as “a huge step in the right direction” and Isabella Sankey, director of policy for Liberty, said “we look forward to government plans to close the unit and to replacing detention with a more humane and family friendly policy.”

Medical Justice were also supportive of the decision but used the opportunity to call for the closure of the facility in its entirety. In a statement it said, “We agree with Nick Clegg that detaining children at Yarl’s Wood is a ‘moral outrage’.

“So too is the continued indefinite and arbitrary detention of vulnerable women at Yarl’s Wood, including torture survivors, pregnant women, victims of trafficking and women with serious medical conditions, some of whom are denied adequate medical care. We believe that the harm being caused by Yarl’s Wood is so extensive that the only solution is to close it down.”

In light of Nick Clegg’s announcement the Home Office has confirmed that it is currently working to find an alternative to detention that protects the welfare of children.

Actor Colin Firth has addressed concerns about possible alternatives to detention in his article for Opendemocracy.net The article, based on his submissions to the Home Office Review into Ending the Detention of Children for Immigration Purposes, calls for all children to be treated with dignity and respect and argues that regular reporting would be a cheap and effective alternative to detention. He states that “Central to any fair and just alternative would be community-based access to housing, food, clothing, health and social care, alongside good legal representation”.

Yarl's Wood family unit to close

Yarl's Wood family unit to close

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