In response to the new Home Office statistics on child detention, and immigration and asylum published today, Jonathan Ellis, Director of Policy at the Refugee Council said:

“It is unacceptable that children were being held in detention centres last month, and we again urge the government to deliver on the promise it made over six months ago to end this abhorrent practice. As we have repeatedly stated, there is no practical reason why the detention of children should not be stopped today, once and for all.

“Regarding the new immigration statistics, we hope the drop in asylum applications will give the Home Office some space to address many of serious failings in the asylum system. In particular, the number of initial decisions overturned at appeal is still as high as 27% showing that many people are still being let down by the process, and those with a need for safety here are too often not given protection.

The government must now focus on ensuring the right decisions are made first time. In order to achieve this, people need good quality legal advice at the beginning of the process.

While we very much welcome the Early Legal Advice project in one region, we now urge the government to ensure all asylum seekers can benefit from it as a matter of urgency.”