CAMPAIGNERS are to protest against immigration at a Lanarkshire detention centre.

 

The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) will gather outside Dungavel Removal Centre on Saturday May 30, calling for an end to detention in the immigration system.

Top Scots lawyer Amer Anwar has hit out at the controversial methods, describing them as a "scar on the Scottish landscape"

He said: "Asylum seekers today are portrayed as threatening a "civilised" way of life but there is nothing civilised about prison camps like Dungavel which allow indefinite detention.

"Westminster's operation of a barbaric system allows for little hope but scapegoats the weakest.

"None of those held in Dungavel have been charged with a criminal offence and most have experienced violence, torture or sexual abuse before detention.

"It is time that this scar on the Scottish landscape was torn down, offering a beacon of hope to those incarcerated in such camps across England and Europe."

Grahame Smith, STUC General Secretary said: "Detention is a blight on our immigration system.

"Detainees can be held for an indefinite period, with some being held for months and even years.

"The effect of indefinite detention on the people in the system is severe, with many suffering from mental health issues as a result of how the system works.

"We are holding this demonstration to shine a light on the plight to people being held in detention centres across the UK, and it should not be forgotten that children are still held in detention centres outside of Scotland.

"We also renew our demand to the Home Office to allow us to visit detainees together to hear at first hand of any difficulties they are facing and to provide such support for them as we are able to give."

hannah.rodger@eveningtimes.co.uk