Monday, April 18, 2011
Keep your promise campaign aims to hold the Government to its word
STAR is supporting the Keep Your Promise campaign to ensure the Government upholds the commitment it made to finally end the detention of asylum-seeking children.
The Keep Your Promise campaign was launched by End Child Detention Now and the Shpresa Programme in London on 26th March. STAR’s James Fisher spoke at the event.
STAR has been campaigning against the costly, inhumane and unnecessary practice of detaining children for years. So why are we supporting the Keep Your Promise campaign?
A pledge…
Last May, when Nick Clegg pledged that the coalition Government would end the detention of children for immigration control — calling the practice “a moral outrage” — STAR was delighted. We hoped that all the hard work campaigning groups have put into highlighting this inexcusable practise would pay off.
But we haven’t achieved this yet.
… broken?
Announcing a new policy is only half the battle – the Government must also act on its promise. And we’re still waiting.
Yarlswood detention centre was closed but as many as 100 children were detained by the UKBA in the first six months of the coalition Government and will continue to be detained at Tinsley House, near Gatwick, until May 2011.
The new plans for a more humane approach include creating ‘pre-departure accommodation’. However STAR was saddened to see that children will not be able to leave unless on a pre-arranged, sanctioned trip and if accompanied by centre staff. The centre is surrounded by a 2.8 metre security fence.
To find out more about the new plans, download these information sheets on child detention and UKBA family returns pilot programmes from Immigration Law Practitioner’s Association (ILPA)
Taking action – 2,000 postcards
STAR, ECDN and the Shpresa Programme have teamed up to hold Nick Clegg and David Cameron to their word and ensure the Government ends child detention.
Together we’re aiming to sign and send 2,000 postcards urging the Government to keep its promise!
What you can do
STAR volunteers see the damage detention does to children up close and personal every week.
So if your STAR group is keen to help, get in touch with STAR National to request postcards.
In the following weeks, STAR members across the country will be out on campuses and on the streets, working to get postcards signed and sent. They won’t relax until the Government keeps its promise. Will you join them?
(Image courtesy of Syd Bolton, and thanks to End Child Detention Now)
Posted by Communications on 18/04/2011 at 02:47 PM
