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Stop detaining asylum seekers' children, say UK doctors

Medical experts have joined forces to campaign for an end to the detention of children awaiting deportation, calling it a 'terrifying experience', which can harm their physical and mental health.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Royal College of Psychiatrists have published a joint report aimed at minimising the number of children detained and reducing the physical and psychological harm caused by detention.

More than 60 children's authors and illustrators, including Quentin Blake, Carol Ann Duffy and former Children's Laureate Michael Rosen, have signed a letter to the Prime Minister backing the campaign,

The report estimates that around 1,000 children from families who have been identified for deportation are detained every year in Immigration Removal Centres. The average length of stay of children in Yarl's Wood, the UK's main such centre, is 15 days, but almost a third of children are detained for longer than a month.

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