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4 July 2005
Rt Hon Charles Clarke MP
Home Secretary
Home Office
50 Queen Anne's Gate
LONDON
SW1H 9AT
Dear Minister
Refugees and Asylum Seekers
As a Christian organisation, this is not the first time that we have had occasion to write to you on the above subject. In doing so, we would like to emphasise, once more, the fundamental principle that we ought to love our neighbour as ourselves and care for the stranger “in our midst”.
Our country has a long history of extending help to people who have sought refuge in our shores and we recognise that it is not the Government's intention to create a “fortress Britain” which is open to no-one coming to us from “outside”. However, in our opinion, we seem to detect a straying away from this important principle in certain respects when it comes to dealing with the complex problem of Asylum Seekers. The recent (20th June 2005) Amnesty report on the plight of Asylum Seekers who are detained in our various detention centres only emphasises our point.
We have great respect for Amnesty, whose reports are highly authoritative and acted upon by Governments and international organisations throughout the world and it is with some sadness and even shame that we note how critical the Report is of the way the UK detains Asylum seekers. The Report points out that the numbers detained are unnecessarily high, unlawful and that often small children are still detained in these centres. We are extremely concerned about these facts and recommend the following course of action:-
- First, please consider carefully the recommendations in this report and look for positive ways of implementing them.
- Second, we note that there is still doubt and confusion regarding some of the statistics which are produced about Asylum Seekers. We recommend that the Home Office produce on an annual or quarterly basis, accurate data of the precise number of Asylum seekers detained during that period, the length of time each was detained and whether accompanied by a child or not. The age and sex of the child would be relevant too. In an open society strengthened by the Freedom of Information Act, surely the public should have access to these figures
We hope that these suggestions will commend themselves to you.
Yours sincerely
Rev Bill Slack
General Director
Baptist Union of Scotland
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