Immigration detention splits children from one in six families

Barnardo's, which runs family welfare services at the government's "child friendly" pre-departure accommodation centre, the Cedars immigration detention facility in Crawley, West Sussex, is calling on the next government to address the issue.

A report by the children's charity highlights that since the immigration returns process was changed by the coalition government in 2010, there has been a 90 per cent drop in the number of children being detained for immigration purposes, and the quality of accommodation has "radically improved".

But it says there are still areas of practice that government must improve.

Barnardo's said "family splits" when one, or both of the parents have been separated from their children for any period from a few minutes to a few days, are often being used as a way of dealing with non-compliant behaviour.

"As a child welfare organisation this concerns us, as we do not think a family split should be used for the purposes of effecting immigration enforcement," the report states.

In addition to families being separated, Barnardo's has raised concerns about families released from Cedars being placed in "substandard" accommodation, savings being confiscated from them, and pregnant women being detained.

It also wants the Home Office to change arrest procedures to make them more "child friendly", and calls for police to stop wearing protective equipment during the process, unless a risk assessment deems it necessary.