London: Growing numbers of migrant children arriving in the UK, especially from Sudan and South Sudan, are being detained in adult prisons alongside dangerous criminals, including sex offenders, The Observer reported on Sunday.
A recent inspection of Elmley prison in England discovered 14 unaccompanied children on a wing for foreign nationals, many of whom are thought to have been trafficked from Libya.
According to campaign group Humans for Rights Network, one of the children was just 14 years old when detained, and spent seven months in the prison housed with violent criminals and convicted pedophiles.
Campaigners have called for a Home Office investigation into how the children ended up being placed at such risk, and for young migrants in detention to be released.
The Home Office, which disputes many of the children’s ages and claims they are adults, says they have been arrested for immigration offenses introduced under the UK Nationality and Borders Act.
Humans for Rights Network’s founder Maddie Harris said the group had worked with over 1,000 migrant children, and those sent to adult prisons had been exposed to serious harm.
“These children are locked down in their cells, not knowing who to call for help, prevented from adequately accessing legal advice and from challenging the arbitrary decision made about their ages by immigration officials upon arrival in the UK,” she said.
“These are children looking for safety who instead find themselves in an adult prison, denied that protection and exposed to great harm.”
Harris added: “The children are always deeply harmed by the time they have spent in prison in the UK, expressing clearly how they are unable to sleep, do not understand why they were held there and struggle to speak about their time there.”
A government spokesperson said: “We must prevent adults claiming to be children, or children being wrongly treated as adults — both present serious safeguarding risks.
“To further protect children, we are strengthening the age-verification process by using scientific measures such as X-rays.”
