Six children kept in detention centres despite vow to end practice

The latest figures show that four children, one aged under five, were held at Tinsley House removal centre; one, aged over 17, was held at Brook House removal centre, and another, aged between 12 and 16, was held at Colnbrook short-term holding facility.

While the government has pledged to end child detention for immigration reasons, this does not include short-term holding centres.

It is building a set of nine apartments for families near Gatwick where children can still be held for up to 72 hours. The proposed centre will have family welfare services supplied by Barnardo's, but will be surrounded by a 2.3m high fence.

Kamena Dorling, manager of the Children’s Legal Centre’s migrant children’s project, said: "It is a given that we want to see the figure reduced to zero. But even when no children are held in long-term facilities, we are still concerned about the use of short-term facilities and this new centre. These figures do mark a progression though, but more can be done."

But David Wood, UKBA’s strategic director for detention, said welfare of children is the agency's paramount concern. "The welfare of children within our immigration system is an absolute priority which is why the government has announced a new humane approach to family returns," he said.

"In four of these cases, the individuals were believed to be aged over 18 years at the time of detention, subsequent age assessments then placed their ages as under 18 at the time of detention."In two more cases a family was detained for one night having been refused entry into the country, in order to remove them back to their home country."

Earlier this month, an HM Inspectorate of Prisons report, A Review of Short-term Holding Facility Inspections 2004–2010, into short-term holding facilities at ports and airports said there was a lack of awareness among staff of their responsibilities regarding children.