Lone children held at UK-run detention centres in France

The Detention Forum has long been concerned about the operation of the UK Government’s short-term holding facilities in Northern France as being at risk of being out of sight and therefore out of mind.

We were pleased when HMIP did an inspection of these facilities last year, but we remain concerned that established procedures for such facilities in the UK do not seem to be applied to the facilities in France. Recent media reports highlighted that lone children were held in these short-term holding facilities 284 times last year.  This is a shockingly high number.

With the Government planning to develop their detention estate in France, this lack of accountability and failure to use established procedures must be addressed urgently. See our policy position on these detention facilities in Northern France here.