In a report released today, the Refugee and Migrant Justice, formerly the Refugee Legal Centre, criticises the UK Border Agency's treatment of children in detention. The report, 'Does Every Child Matter?', is the first "comprehensive review of children’s experiences" carried out since the UKBA's first Code of Practice for 'Keeping children safe from harm' was introduction 2 months ago.
The report (as itself says) "paints a distressing [but unfortunately accurate] picture of how children seeking asylum fare in Britain today: their families are consigned to poverty; if unaccompanied, they are subjected to a hostile legal process often marked by a culture of disbelief, sometimes without any adult representation or support; they are left for months and in many cases years without a clear decision about their future, traumatized and in limbo; and they are even locked up, sometimes for months."
"In short, some of the most vulnerable children in the world are routinely denied basic protection that all other children in the UK enjoy, when all they are doing is seeking sanctuary here."
This is just one in a long line of damning reports about their methods and practices, yet the UKBA have of course, as they do in the case of any criticism, denied the report's claims and have stated that treating children with care and compassion was their "number one priority".
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