Child Detention for immigration purposes has ended – but it is a policy that could be changed by a different incoming government. It must be put into legislation to stop this happening, so PLEASE contact your MP, whatever party they belong to, as soon as possible asking for their support to this non party political event. Below is a draft letter you can send, and obviously amend it accordingly, especially if you cannot be there on November 28th. Probably easiest to copy and paste into an e-mail and follow it up with a phone call. Let us know the response that you get.
I am writing as your constituent to ask you to meet with me on Thursday 28 November between 13:00 and 15:00 as part of the Citizens UK Lobby Day. We are seeking the support of MPs for legislation to secure the end of child detention in immigration removal centres as part of the Immigration Bill, which is likely to reach Report Stage in early December. I will be in Committee Room 7 on Thursday November 28, along with young people who have not been detained because of the government’s change in policy since 2010, and we would be delighted to speak to you then, and explain why we feel so strongly about this.
Citizens UK’s 2010 Sanctuary Pledge campaign, which called for an end to the locking up of innocent children and their families in immigration removal centres like Yarl’s Wood, received support from candidates from all of the major parties, and from Nick Clegg, David Cameron and Gordon Brown at the Citizens UK General Election Assembly on May 3 2010. Since then we have worked with the government to develop humane alternatives as part of a complete overhaul of the family removals policy, as well as to set up the Independent Child Detention Monitoring Panel to ensure that the Coalition’s pledge is kept.
We are delighted with the success of the new policy, which means that since the new family removals process began in 2010, over 3,000 children in this country have benefited from being kept out of immigration removal centres. We hope you would agree that we are a more humane and decent country for not locking up innocent children unnecessarily in prison-like immigration removal centres like Yarl’s Wood. So we are calling for legislation that enshrines this policy in law – and also reflects the related overhaul of the family removals process announced in 2010.
We anticipate the Government proposing an amendment on this issue when the Immigration Bill reaches Report Stage in the House of Commons, and urge you, along with MPs from all parties, to support it. We will send you more information when the amendment is tabled, but if you require more information in the meantime then please don’t hesitate to contact me or Jonathan Cox at Citizens UK (jonathan.cox@citizensuk.org.uk; 07919 484066).
If you are unable to meet me on Thursday 28 November between 13:00 and 15:00 then please let me know if there is a more convenient time to meet. I would be keen to know if you support this objective in principle, and I would be grateful if you could raise this with your party’s Home Affairs lead and encourage them to welcome this development.
Yours sincerely,