The film 'Oranges and Sunshine' tells of the thousands of British children forced into migration to the Commonwealth in the 1880s. Barnardo's had a role in this practice - but has it learned from past mistakes? Today, the children's charity faces accusations of collusion with the government over c
Children's charity Barnardo's has agreed to work with the UK Border Agency in a planned immigration detention centre. While they promise to "speak out" on injustice and abuse, they will have little real power, and are in danger of legitimising the continued detention of children in the UK.
The announcement that children's charity Barnardo’s will work with the Coalition in the proposed replacement for Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre throws into stark relief the dilemma facing children's advocates in the UK. Should they be accomplices to contentious policy, or stand back and ma
The campaigning organisation 38 Degrees has reached a new level with its Save Our Forests Petition, and is now a national player. Now is the time for congratulations, but also for a word of friendly warning.
As recently as 10 January, the Home Office falsely claimed that no child had been detained for immigration purposes this past Christmas. A Freedom of Information Request extracted the truth, proving that the Home Office cannot be trusted on child detention.
In a landmark judgment on child detention at Yarl’s Wood, Judge Wyn Williams found that the UK Border Agency failed to uphold its own rules and breached claimants’ rights to freedom, privacy and family life. The coalition government’s plans to continue detaining children until May now look to be i
A report on the UK Border Agency's work, published today by the Home Affairs Select Committee, exposes poor decision-making and notes MPs' concern around the training of employees in the use of force. Clare Sambrook, co-ordinator of the campaign End Child Detention Now, welcomes the report, but sa
As we head into 2011, the Coalition has still not fulfilled their pledge to end child detention. Clare Sambrook outlines the glaring gap between the government's words and deeds regarding a policy proven to cause children serious and lasting physical and mental harm.
As Nick Clegg prepares to make a statement that will either end the scandal of child detention by the immigration authorities, or make the deputy prime minister a mere bagman for more Home Office trickery, Clare Sambrook gathers five years of evidence that the Home Office has variously ignored, ba
For women seeking asylum in the UK the tales of persecution, flight and exile, of children and families left behind, and months and often years lost in the bureaucratic cruelties of the asylum system continue
The legal declaration that Phil Woolas knowingly lied and his election was void has reignited a debate on politics as a black art. Now it seems the dark spirit is animating government and official statements are not to be believed either.
