Detention of Children Motion, 19/10/09 Motion lodged before the Scottish Parliament on 19 October 2009 by Christina McKelvie (SNP)

scottish-parliamentMotion lodged before the Scottish Parliament on 19 October 2009 by Christina McKelvie (SNP) on problems suffered by asylum seeking children being held in detention centres.

The full text of the motion reads:

That the Parliament is disturbed to note the findings of a team of paediatricians and psychologists published in Child Abuse and Neglect: The International Journal, which found that 73% of the children held in Yarl’s Wood immigration detention centre whom they examined had developed clinically significant emotional, mental and physical health problems since being detained, including weight loss, sleep problems, bedwetting and speech regression; believes that these findings vindicate the Scottish Government’s insistence on pursuing alternatives to detention for asylum-seeker families with children; hopes that the community-based pilot launched jointly by the Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council and the UK Border Agency in May 2009 means that no more asylum-seeking children will be detained in Scotland; further notes, however, that, according to Home Office figures, 470 children have been detained this year in England and Wales, and calls on the UK Government to follow the Scottish Government’s example in introducing community-based alternatives to detention throughout the UK and end the practice of detaining children as soon as possible.

All current motions before the Scottish Parliament can be found on the Scottish Parliament website.