Since 2002, BID has been campaigning to end the immigration detention of children and their families. We were therefore delighted in May 2010, when the coalition government announced that child detention would end. Yet children continue to be detained, so we are calling on the government to fulfil their commitment to end this unacceptable practice.
Children we have worked with in detention have become extremely distressed and developed serious health problems. Medical studies have found that detention is associated with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, suicidal ideation, self-harm and developmental delay in children.
BID's concerns about child detention and the family returns process have been covered by Children and Young People Now, Politics.co.uk and in the 2014 'State of Children’s Rights in England' report.
We are calling on the government to fulfil their commitment to end child detention. We are also campaigning against harmful alternatives to child detention such as the separation of families. See below a selection of BID's research reports and briefings on child detention. You can download all BID's briefings on our parliamentary briefings and policy briefings pages.
Downloads
Briefings and Comments
Families separated by immigration detention and deportation- February 2019
BID briefing on child detention - Immigration Bill Lords Report Stage
Refugee Children's Consortium comments on Operating Standards for new family detention facility
Refugee Children's Consortium briefing on Child Detention
BID and The Children's Society's response to Home Office plans for family returns pilots
2010 Outcry! briefing: concerns about proposed methods for forcibly removing families
BID and The Children's Society party conference briefing on children and immigration detention
Publications and Reports
Last resort or first resort: Immigration detention of children in the UK: Executive Summary
Last resort or first resort Immigration detention of children in the UK Full Report
Obstacles to accountability: challenging the immigration detention of families