Anger at plan to expand asylum centre

THE Home Office was the focus of a furious backlash from opposition politicians last night after it emerged ministers were driving ahead with a major new extension to the controversial Dungavel detention centre in Lanarkshire despite widespread public unease...

Tommy Sheridan, of the Scottish Socialist Party, said: "What an appalling Christmas present from New Labour to Scotland. Dungavel is Scotland’s Guantanamo Bay. It should not be expanded, it should be closed."

One of the most controversial features of the Lanarkshire detention centre is its use to keep children locked up with their parents.

The latest figures show that six children are in the centre and are expected to remain behind bars for Christmas. The Scotsman

Little cheer for detained children

IN TWO days’ time, here in Scotland, six children who have committed no crime, will spend Christmas behind bars.

They are the sons and daughters of asylum seekers locked up in the Dungavel detention centre in South Lanarkshire.

A year-long campaign has been mounted to stop the government detaining children at Dungavel and, while it has made a series of concessions along the way, the authorities’ resolve appears to be as strong as ever.

Indeed, rather than conceding to the demands of campaigners who want the controversial detention centre closed, ministers are about to finalise a deal that will see a new unit built there, increasing its capacity by 25 per cent.

The abolitionists, led by the Scottish Socialist Party, want to close Dungavel and force the government to end its policy of locking up asylum seekers while it assesses their claims. The Scotsman

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