Dungavel Removal Centre

Letter to the Prime Minister, 22/07/2003

The Right Honourable Tony Blair,

Prime Minister

& First Lord of the Treasury,

10 Downing Street,

LONDON   SW1A 2AA.

 Dear Mr. Blair,

 I am aware you have very important issues to deal with at the moment. However, I feel I must bring before you, as Prime Minister and the Leader of our Government the issue of the detention of very young children in the Dungavel Family Centre here in Scotland.

 On Wednesday of last week (the 16^th July 2003), the Home Secretary, Mr. Blunkett was good enough to meet me in his Office at Queen Anne’s Gate, London. He accepted from me a petition with over 21,000 signatures from people in Scotland, calling for the immediate closure of the Family Unit at Dungavel.

 Mr. Blunkett showed that he had some knowledge of the conditions in the Centre. I understand that his information would come from people like Beverly Hughes, the Minister for Immigration, who had personally visited Dungavel. 

 I am convinced that what is taking place is against the God-given human rights of children. Furthermore, the incarceration of children in these circumstances clearly contravenes the European Convention of the Rights of Children.

It is important that we are not distracted from this central issue by other issues.

For example, you will be aware that one family in particular has been at Dungavel for more than one year. But this is about ALL children. It is no excuse to blame the parents for using their legal right to continue appealing for new hearings. Nor is the central issue about giving children more teachers, better education, more technology.

This is purely and simply a human rights issue. It is about giving children back the childhood which we are taking from them. The state cannot continue to lock up innocent children who have committed no crime.

The level of support I have received on this matter shows that the people of Scotland share my indignation about what is happening at Dungavel. I carried to Mr. Blunkett, not only the 21,000 signatures, but the outrage of many of our people. I have received a great deal of support from the other Churches, from the press and from various professional bodies.

They are as puzzled as I am by what appears to be a lack of transparency in this whole situation.

Earlier this month, in a written question from Michael Connarty, M.P. for Falkirk East, Beverley Hughes, the Minister for Immigration, was asked how many children were being held at Dungavel and in each of the other Detention Centres on 1^st July 2003. The only figures she was able to quote were from three months before. At that point there were 56 children being held and 21 of these were at Dungavel.

Prime Minister, the Government must find a more humane way of dealing with what I realise is an agonising problem for you. There is an increasing ground-swell of indignation on this matter and the challenge to the Government will not go away until the Family unit at Dungavel is closed.

I am heartened by the fact that the Home Secretary has approached this question constructively and has asked me to continue to dialogue with him in trying to achieve a solution and I thank him for that. However, I believe that the Government must now deal more urgently with this situation and that the Government has the ways and means of examining this question properly and of coming up with appropriate solutions which respect the human rights of all our citizens and of those who seek asylum in our country, especially the smallest and the most vulnerable: the children.

 I am certain that both you and the Government would gain much credit by acting decisively now to bring an end to this shameful and intolerable situation.

 Please be assured of my prayers that God will guide you in this and in the other other important decisions you must make. I thank you for your consideration of this letter.

 With every good wish,

 Yours sincerely,

President of the Justice & Peace Commission of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland