The routine use of immigration detention is appalling. The fact that the UK is unique in the EU in not even having any time limit on detention is shameful. The SNP Westminster Group have called on the UK Government to demand a time limit on detention, better judicial oversight of decisions to detain.
We need a new approach which prioritises compassion and fairness over punishment and isolation – helping those who seek asylum to more easily integrate into our communities and allowing our national life to benefit from their skills and their culture.
We are over one year on from the Shaw Review into the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons and still we are seeing appalling and inappropriate immigration detention policies including those addressing detention of pregnant women and LGBTI persons. Locking people up for Home Office convenience must be a matter of absolute last resort and not an everyday occurrence.
My SNP colleagues and I will continue to press the UK government to limit immigration detention to 28 days. No other European country has indefinite detention. We continue to oppose the detention of children and vulnerable people, including pregnant women and people with mental illnesses. We will also continue to call for the UK government to pursue alternatives to detention.