Failed Asylum Seeking Children Should Not Be Detained

According to the Children's Commissioner for England, Sir Al Aynesley Green, failed asylum seeking children should not be detained as they await deportation. The Children's Commissioner has called for an end of the harsh practice of arresting children and holding them in one of the emigrations centers around the UK.

Almost 2,000 children every year are held for administration purposes. Sir Al Aynesley Green says that this has to stop. This was the main goal of the document that he wrote after his visit to the Yarl's Wood Emigration Center.

During his visit, he held interviews with the children and their families. Sir Al found that these failed asylum seeking children felt nothing except fear form the emigration system. It also made them very anxious about the loss of their belongings and their friends. The children went on to tell Sir Al that being Yal's Wood Emigration Center was like being in prison.

In light of the interviews, the Commissioner called for improvement in the health care of Yarl's Wood. He went on to say that better facilities have to be given to pregnant or nursing mothers as well. The Children's Commissioner for England when on to identify steps that the UK Border Agency and the UK government could to do achieve positive changes.

These steps included the development of community based alternatives to detention for children. This would leave detention to only be used in exceptional circumstances, or as a measure of last resort. Any children that are held in the detention centers need to be held there for the shortest possible amount of time.