A further spin-off from the formation on the Conservative-Liberal coalition in the United Kingdom is a decision to end the detention of children at the immigration detention centre at Dungavel in Scotland.
Various groups in Scotland including the Scottish National Party and the Scottish Liberal democrats have opposed the child detentions and a campaign has been ongoing for over three years.
It is seven years since the Celtic League first expressed concern about the operation of the centre as a `child prison’ when we wrote (in 2003) to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child expressing concern over the
policy of the United Kingdom government in relation to the treatment of children and immigrants held at the centre. We reiterated our concerns last year.
Welcoming the decision Scots Lib-Dem leader Tavish Scott said:
“The new UK Government has already announced that the unacceptable detention of children at the Dungavel Detention Centre will end.
“Labour had 13 years to do this. Yet as their term in office ended in March we saw reports of six year old children being taken in their school uniforms from their Glasgow school to Dungavel. Figures suggest that more than 100 children were detained at Dungavel last year, a year after Labour said it would stop.
“That was a shameful end to the Labour Government.
“Now the UK Government policy is changing and children are no longer going to be detained behind razor wire at Dungavel. That’s Liberal Democrats in Government making it happen and I’m pleased that the First Minister (Alex Salmond MSP) welcomed this positive change”
Related articles on Celtic News at:
https://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/message/1186
https://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtic_league/message/3140
J B Moffatt (Mr)
Director of Information
Celtic League
14/05/10