Though Cowards Flinch

Following on from Neil’s challenge to Labour bloggers over Yarls Wood, and my response, I noted this letter from Home Officer Minister Meg Hillier in this week’s New Statesman, seeking to defend the practice of detaining children at Yarls Wood detention centre. 

The detention of illegal migrants awaiting removal from the UK would be unnecessary if those individuals the independent courts deem to have no right to remain agreed to leave voluntarily. 

I do not want to see children separated from their parents, but simply refusing to detain any adult with children places other risks on children which I have to balance. 

While in our care, all parents and their children have access to health care, social activities and training. 

We continue to explore ways of returning families without the need for detention or enforced removal, and have run pilot schemes in Kent and Glasgow.  Our Assisted Voluntary Removal scheme, take up by 350 families last year, provides them with training and financial incentives to return to their countries to make a fresh start. 

Unacceptable. 

First, Hillier simply glosses over the separation of children from their parents within the detention system itself; the Children’s Commissioner’s recent report is critical of this aspect of detention practice itself, but she simply accepts it as part of practice without seeking to defend it. 

Second, and more extraordinary, she appears to be saying that the key justification for detaining children is that, on ‘balance’, they would be in even greater danger of harm if they were not in detention. 

This seems simply to acknowledge that what Refugee Action describes as the ‘Destitution  Trap’, imposed by the authorities on people whose application to remain has been refused, would actually be worse for a child’s welfare than being held in detention.  This is despite the supposed availability of  ’hard case’ support for children and their families.  As Refugee Action’s reports states (p.12) 

Many of the most vulnerable people, including families with children and people with serious health conditions have not been able to get any support through Section 4 or social services. They are left in perilous circumstances, some literally on the streets, many dependent on solidarity or in circumstances that may be dangerous. 

I’m sorry, Ms Hiller.  It is simply not reasonable to justify the detention of children because other systems for meeting their basic rights outside detention are, as you appear to acknowledge in your letter, failing. 

Sort out the support outside detention, and there’ll be no need for detention.