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In the UK we routinely detain the children of asylum seekers in removal centres, prisons in all but name.

We detain 2000 children every year, many for months on end. These children have committed no crime. They, or their parents, have simply exercised their right to claim asylum.

The children of asylum seekers are the only children who may be detained without time limit and the UK is the only European country where this happens. Australia, for example, has pledged to never put another asylum seeking child in a detention centre.

For many families, detention unearths past terrors and causes psychological distress. Cut off from family and friends, children in detention experience insomnia, weight loss, depression and self harm. Children’s Commissioner for England, Sir Al Aynsley Green, visited Yarl’s Wood removal centre to interview child detainees and called for child detention to end immediately.

If enough people speak out the government will have to listen. Please sign our petition.

Thank you.

Current signatories

Because there are so many signatories, only the most recent 500 are shown on this page.

• Florence Bertrand
• Sarah Weston
• Samantha Dimmock
• Katy Swaine
• Dragana Aldred
• Claire Wimborne
• Esther Challis
• Christopher Hancock
• Dienka Hines
• Nola Pugh
• Kate Hillard
• Kevin Matthews
• Christopher Graham
• Daniel Stanley
• Rukhsana Chohan
• Rukhsana Chohan
• Janet Broderick
• Ed Naylor
• Mia Mantri
• joseph hampton
• Trisha Morgan
• Katharine Fletcher
• Stephanie Tulej
• David B Lawrence
• Naomi Clark
• Christopher Esdaile
• Renate Milner
• Debby Wakeham
• Adele Stober
• Sarah Arnold
• ROY TERRY
• Gabrielle Mary Awre
• Lucy Rollins
• Joanna Tulej
• Rachel Reynolds
• John Barber
• Jessica Davies
• Helen Nance
• Michael Francis Carter
• Nicola Simmonds
• Alex Flegmann
• Ruth Stokes
• Diane Fewster
• Elizabeth Chapman
• Anne Meiland
• Margaret Murphy
• Ann Taylor
• P Jane Grubb
• Katie Roskams
• Duncan Charles Hill
• Hakan Durmaz
• Chris Awre
• Amy Dunn
• Jan Eggerdon
• Louise Gooch
• Daffni percival
• Rob Wall
• Wendy Ridley
• Diana Maggiore
• Clare Willis
• Cliff Ashby
• John Ambrose
• Vi Pugh
• Sean Boyle
• Julie Dixon
• Helen Starkie
• Georgina Griffiths
• Annemarie O'Callaghan
• Stephanie Johnston
• Nat Goodden
• Kathryn Henson
• Dr Sieglinde Dlabal
• Anthony Horitz
• Sheila McIntosh
• Paul Carter
• Linda Molloy
• Steven Mair
• Kate Wildish
• Shaun Brown
• Valerie Hallard
• patricia Hannam
• Jane Roberts
• coral davies
• Shirelle Cooper
• Sam Playle
• Morgan Gallagher
• David L Brown
• Hugh Gallagher
• William A.M. Cutting
• Joe Human
• Norma Ritter
• Anna Brown
• Kate McIntosh
• Abi Ogundipe
• Alison Sauer
• Maire Stafford
• Harriet Griffey
• Keith Lindsell
• Alison Robertson
• Petra Rhr-Rouendaal
• Katy Francis
• tania berlow
• P. Morley
• Ewa Duda-Mikulin
• Cid Schaller
• Jenny Walker
• Kath Grant
• Patrick Drysdale
• Sophie Winterbotham
• Marsha Rosengarten
• P.C. McDonald
• Shirley Pearce
• Catherine Hodder
• John Pearce
• Sophia Haythornthwaite
• Sarah Hall
• Genevieve Guyot
• Alberto Smith
• Rachel Broady
• Helen MIlls
• Hayley Barrett
• Linda Craig
• Valerie Olive Pearce
• jenny madill
• Amanda King
• Anoushka Appadoo
• Susan Bowhay-Pringle
• AC Titchener
• Julie Blunden
• Anthony O'Kane
• Dr Henry Potts
• Beth Anderson
• Christina Hyland
• Debbie Black
• Mary Steele
• Brendan Montague
• Máirtín Mag Uidhir
• Susan Leadley
• Isobel Hatfield
• Laura Harvey
• Iain Maclennan
• Sue Taylor
• Victoria Pirie
• Clare Hatfield
• Tom Kerswill
• Lorraine Bennett
• Alex Grigg
• Melanie White
• Jo Wilding
• Jess Cooper
• Tanya Dunne
• Dawn McCarthy
• Katherine Jobling
• lynne fordyce
• Livio Zilli
• Naomi Gibbs
• Donna Nicholson
• Bridget Dunne
• Sonali Bhattacharyya
• Rochelle Harris
• Rob Fahey
• Alex Snowdon
• Grace Keyworth
• Oliver Brunetti
• Suhayla El-Bushra
• Elizabeth Fowler
• matthew king
• Mary Phillips
• Eleanor Brown
• Jonathan Stevenson
• Emily Harle
• Jo Gough
• Dylan Roberts
• Dilip Agarwal
• Michael Edwards
• Thomas Donnelly
• Simon Taylor
• Rachael Elward
• Richard Goulding
• Daniel Poulton
• Dean Burnett
• Rachel Pechey
• Stephanie White
• Roderick White
• keith spence
• Matthew Saywell
• india vollans
• Sarah Will
• Caz Walker
• David McKee
• roy bannister
• Peter Marshall
• Irvine Hunt
• Jennie O'Hara
• Jeremy Cooper
• David Goodacre
• Richard Jacks
• Susie shreeve
• Sarah Jacobs
• Rachel Leonard
• Stephen Jones
• Robert Dellar
• Steve Barnard
• Jim Fagan
• Paul Hackett
• Mary Robertshaw
• Chris Cant
• Michelle Pearce
• Judith Saidi
• Eleanor O'Gorman
• Helen Towers
• Clovis Bergere
• Michael Upton
• Neil Gandhi
• Michelle Matthews
• Greta Smalley
• Sue Blofield
• Phil Brand.
• Dick Capel
• Sue Capel
• mark loader
• Amy Wright
• Keith M Ross
• Gerald Philip Thompson
• Edward Murphy
• Isabel HW Kenrick
• Philip Turner
• Marion Hill
• Dominic Francis Pinto
• Greg Morris
• Brenda Pauline Morton
• Alan Callow
• Emmy Chater
• Jeremy Lawford
• Cllr Martin Stears-Handscomb(Lab)
• Alastair Murray
• Christopher Shelley
• Helen Drummond
• Assumpcio Oyonate
• Meryl Court
• Dan Clarke
• Christine Thompson
• David Osborne
• Margaret Simpson
• K. Rance
• Judi Thompson
• Neil McEwan
• Patricia Bishop
• David Holtam
• James Burns
• Ian Hewes
• Sarah Hall
• Dr E.L.Offermam
• Francesca Allen
• Judy Jacques
• J Barrie Phillips
• Phil Hall
• Valentine Stephenson
• Saffron Cooper
• Kay Haggarty
• Will Niblett
• Ekeni Ewane
• Shanaz Chowdhury
• DR IBTIHAL ELSHIKH
• Jane Oulton
• Bridget Costello
• cllr. John Russell
• Anne Wade
• Colette Joyce
• Judith Martin
• DAvid J Williams
• grahaeme lauder
• Lindita Prifti
• Andy Foster
• Alan McGowan
• Nahtaneal AMos
• Alex Feakes
• Patricia White
• Louise McMahon
• David Masters
• Helen Gould
• Mark meiklejohn
• Amy Gledhill
• Lee Morris
• Guy Cruls
• Xsara Helmi
• Anne Lynn
• Emily Bowerman
• Guy Aitchison
• Claire Butler
• Rowan Davies
• Adam Bernard
• Elly Metcalfe
• Hannah Prittie
• Amelia Horgan
• Jonathan Evershed
• Lucy Tatam
• Christopher Athayde
• Gayle Watson
• Claire Jones
• Paula Lawford
• David Schneider
• Teresa Dodgson
• Joanne Payton
• Ian Christopher Handscomb
• geoffrey douch
• Louise M Gamble
• Ernestine Cath
• Stephen Duckworth
• Richard Burnham
• Helen Taylor
• Michael Nixon
• Dr Nicholas David
• E Tebbatt
• Emma Felber
• Eva Davidson
• Janet McKnight
• Elena Findley-de Regt
• John Swainson
• Abi Ralls
• Ali Ali
• Donald Saunders
• Rebecca Wilson
• Bharti Tailor
• Lucy Mellersh
• Sandeep Tailor
• Hannes Baumann
• Tim Wardle
• Sophie Painter
• Sarah Moore
• Matthew Adamson
• Raksha Shah
• Lee Waterhouse
• Chris Bush
• Jeremy Gass
• Peter Townend
• David Gerard
• Natalya Dell
• Stephanie King
• Elisabeth Ginsburg
• Brian D. Loader
• Sylvie A. Martlew
• Sabina Hussain
• Philip Miller
• Kate Kirkpatrick
• Richard Gunton
• Theresa Rowe
• Zaira Arlandi-Carapeto
• Daniel Powell
• Gillian Rodrigues
• Clare Rooth
• Munira Ali
• Sue Jones
• Margaret Lyall
• maryam al-khasawneh
• babu tailor
• Olubunmi Legbe
• MUCHAEL MCGLASHAN
• Catherine Naamani
• Jennifer Mort
• Catherine Rogerson
• Nomsa Mohapi
• gillian armitage
• David Hindle
• Daniel Harris
• Donald Elliott
• Michael Sims
• Moira Gray
• DAVID GRAY
• Diana Cooper
• Judy Porter
• James Dibb-Simkin
• Alice Mc Nulty
• Rachel lee
• David Webster
• hellena Gallant
• Abigail Lawson
• Alan Ballard
• Matthew Hinton
• David Willingham
• Jenny Webb
• Beverley Turner
• Diane Davies
• Anneli Mclachlan
• Adrian Madill
• Will Sudworth
• Pavel Nikolaev
• Charles Stewart
• lisa davis
• Ed Riley
• Hazal Hazar
• Rachel Pepa
• William Smith
• Carol Kenneth
• Judith Isufi
• Miriam Stevenson
• Alex Keramydas
• Simon Beales
• Sarah George
• Gillian Hofmann
• Marian Gillies
• Elisabeth Burleigh
• Judith Osborne
• Pauline Swancott
• fiona towers
• Gail Jackson
• Helen Wallace
• Julie Bernstein
• Luca Scarabello
• Emily Stott
• Martin Ash
• MOYRA ARCHIBALD
• frances marlow
• adrienne lowing
• Dr Gosia Brykczynska
• Tom Burrin
• Ruth Hawkins
• Charlotte Smithson
• Ruth Waskett
• Annabelle Tipples
• Kate Downing
• Aisha Orme
• Sinead Alqotaibi
• Helen Blade
• Danni Jayne Wood
• Flora McGarry
• Malcolm Parker
• Carole Green
• Ashley Baxter
• Dr Ruth Goldwyn
• Helen Coppins
• Michaela Overend
• Shahida choudhury
• Stewart Jeffrey
• Joanne Embleton
• Danielle Blœdé
• Hilary Watson
• Amber Symons
• Hannah Watson
• Karen Overend
• Liberty Tipples
• Dr Joanna Maher
• Heather Easton
• Kevin Keech
• Rachel Fitzpatrick
• Katharine Newman
• Heather Corrie
• Maria Sanchez
• Revd Scott Edwards
• Zoe Whitfield
• Mandy Christie
• Rosie Tapsfield
• Adam Lapthorn
• Olivia Booth
• Andy Dickinson
• Emma Collison
• Victoria Luckie
• monica hirst
• Emma Pattinson
• Sarah Johnson
• Emily Dobell
• Julianne Bowman
• hannah
• Miriam Margolyes
• Heather Lowrie
• Cassian Vian
• Anne Fine
• Susan Morgan
• Rosamine Hayeem
• mARION wALTER
• Yvonne Sougnez
• Geoff Curl
• Nick Osmond
• Anita Lillis
• Chloe Belcher
• Susan Miller
• Tom Comerford
• Linda Knight
• Liam McDill
• Anne Wheeler
• Dr Maura Murphy
• Gareth Beynon
• Adem Certel
• Richard Stevens
• Jennifer Preston
• David Gould
• Miriam Hollis
• Anna Leonard-Williams
• Eleanor Curtis
• marie clegg
• Fiona McCallum
• Vicky Ireland
• Chris Hamilton
• John Cossham
• Emma Jane Ross
• Stephanie Tarry
• Tsega Abate
• Marie-Louise Jennings
• Dave Stamp
• Sarah Maguire

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