Dungavel capacity to be increased

Dungavel's capacity is being increased

The Dungavel Immigration Centre is to be expanded with a new 43-bed unit for single adult males, the Home Office has announced.

It forms part of the UK Government's drive to increase the number of detention spaces available across the country to 2,700 this year.

Dungavel, in Lanarkshire, can hold 150 people at present.

Asylum support groups condemned the decision, which Home Secretary David Blunkett said was "an important move".

The centre currently holds men, women and children and the extension will add another block.

Mr Blunkett said: "Increasing the amount of space in the detention estate is an important part of our strategy to remove those people who have no right to be here.

Asylum seekers are not criminals, they are people claiming protection from persecution under international law Sally Daghlian Scottish Refugee Council

"This new unit at Dungavel will be used to house single males only and, together with plans for increases at other sites and a new centre near Heathrow, will help to expand our overall detention capacity.

"Removal centres are an integral part of our balanced approach to immigration by helping us cut abuse of the asylum system and ensure an efficient end-to-end process."

Details of the £3m development at Dungavel were revealed by Immigration Minister Beverley Hughes in December last year in a written parliamentary answer.

'Last resort'

The detention of children of asylum seekers at the centre has sparked political controversy and human rights charities argue it is wrong to hold them.

Robina Quereshi, from Positive Action in Housing, described the plans for expansion as a disgrace.

She urged First Minister Jack McConnell to intervene to stop the new facility being built.

The Scottish Refugee Council said it was disappointed at the decision to expand Dungavel.

Sally Daghlian, the charity's chief executive, said: "Asylum seekers are not criminals, they are people claiming protection from persecution under international law.

"Depriving them of their freedom should only be done as a last resort.

'A disgrace'

"If children were not detained and other detainees were only held for brief periods, then the government might not feel the need to build a new extension at Dungavel."

Scottish National Party MSP Shona Robison claimed Dungavel was "a stain on the good name of Scotland".

"Public opinion is resolutely set against the intolerant, anti-refugee agenda of David Blunkett, but the powerlessness of the Scottish Executive over immigration has left us at the mercy of the Home Office," she said.

The Scottish Socialist Party labelled the expansion "a disgrace".

Rosie Kane MSP said: "If they want to accommodate these young men they should accommodate them properly in the community.

"People should never be locked up, especially people who have committed no crime."