Q: @asylumresearch (Twitter) – Great that Clegg announced future end of child detention but what kind of horrid alternative will they dream up for ‘non-compliant families’?

A: Francesco – I know, that’s how the government describes people who say that they don’t want to go back to their country, usually because they feel that their situation hasn’t been understood or their experiences haven’t been believed.

Well we’re quite worried too, because the ‘alternatives to detention’ projects that have been run in the past have made people very frightened and removed them from the communities that have been giving them emotional support. It’s not enough to keep telling people what has to happen, the government really needs to listen to the families as well and try to understand the reasons why the family doesn’t want to be removed.