source: openDemocracy
published: 3 November 2014
Despite pledging to end child detention for immigration purposes in 2010, the UK Government is still quietly locking up children. It’s getting away with it by calling them adults.
Dover Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) sits on the site of a 19th century fortress, isolated on top of a hill overlooking the sleepy seaside town.
For day trippers, the view across the Channel may be quite appealing with the famous white cliffs plunging dramatically into the sea. For those incarcerated behind the barbed wire fences, the view must feel entirely different; a chilling reminder that you are on the edge of Britain, being held at arm’s length by a government intent on removing you at the first opportunity.
Dover IRC used to be a prison. For all intents and purposes, it still is, except these days it’s used solely to house immigration detainees – up to 401 adult males in total.
