A boy runs down the corridor laughing, as a friend follows. It could be a scene from any school in the country - but these children will not be going home tonight. They are asylum seekers detained by the UK government.
Around 60 children and their families were being held in Crane Unit, the family wing, when CYP Now visited Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre in Bedfordshire. The centre has 405 beds in total, with a capacity of 121 in Crane. The regime is not like prison - families are not locked in their rooms and all doors inside the unit are open, apart from those in the administrative area. However, detainees - or residents as the staff call them - are not allowed to leave the compound.
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