Asylum and Human Trafficking

STUC 2009: Along with a range of organisations we have been campaigning for several years for all children in Scotland to have the same rights and protection under the Children Scotland Act.

That glowing beacon of legislation makes the interests of all children paramount. It doesn’t differentiate between those with a passport and those without one. It was meant to protect all children.

But, as the Glasgow Girls showed us, the reality was that displaced children were second class children and their welfare was regularly undermined.

No Place for a Child - Stop detaining children now, says campaign

More than two thousand children a year are locked up by the UK Government for immigration purposes. Save the Children and others are calling on the Home Secretary Charles Clarke to end this inhumane and unnecessary practice and use viable alternatives that take into account children's welfare. http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/siu/mayjune06/13.html 

These children have not committed any crime but are held behind locked doors and high barbed wire fences. Five years ago it was rare for families and children to be detained for immigration purposes.

Now, members of the No Place for a Child coalition have documented detentions lasting anything from 7 to 268 days. Children feel that they are being punished and do not understand why.

Child Protection Act

Conference 2003: This is just a brief contribution to ask that the NEC consults with the Scottish Region and the Scottish Trades Union Congress before issuing the guidance the motion asks for.

While the legislation in England & Wales broadly mirrors that in Scotland, there are significant differences between the 1989 Children Act and the Scottish 1995 Act. There is also a brand new piece of legislation in the Scottish Child Protection Act.