ALEX Salmond last night revealed he is in talks with Westminster to have Scotland's only immigration detention centre closed down.
The First Minister's office said he has voiced his "strong disapproval" with Liam Byrne, the UK immigration minister, about the Dungavel facility and dawn raids on asylum seekers in Scotland.
Yesterday The Scotsman reported how human rights gro
ups and churches had renewed calls for the Home Office facility in South Lanarkshire to be shut after Corellie Bonhomme, a detainee, described conditions there.
An aide close to the First Minister said: "As a government, we have consistently and on many occasions outlined our fundamental opposition to dawn raids and the detention of children in Dungavel.
"The Scottish Government believes we should have responsibility for asylum seekers and immigration, then we could preclude the possibility of this appalling situation continuing. The First Minister has raised these concerns with the UK Home Office on a number of occasions.
"Fiona Hyslop wrote to Liam Byrne two weeks ago about these matters and we are continuing to pursue these and other issues."
Ms Hyslop, the education secretary, is also looking at the possibility of setting up hotel-like facilities for asylum seekers similar to the Nayland Rock Hotel project in Kent.
Christina McKelvie, SNP MSP for Central Scotland, whose constituency includes Dungavel, lodged a motion at the Scottish Parliament yesterday calling on the Scottish Government to ensure "families under detention or investigation by the Immigration Agency be kept out of Dungavel in alternative accommodation, including in their own homes, while their cases are resolved".
Margaret Smith, MSP, the Liberal Democrats' justice spokeswoman, said: "Dungavel is a prison and looks like a prison. It has barbed wire fences and warders patrolling around and is not suitable for anyone, let alone children and families.
"This is a Westminster issue but on Scottish soil. We would be very sympathetic to the Scottish Government taking this up with the UK government."
But Bill Aitken, the justice spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives, said the SNP had not highlighted Dungavel in the same high-profile manner it displayed in opposition.
Mr Aitken said: "You do have to question why the SNP have been so voluble in opposition but have been strangely silent since being in government.
"Perhaps being in government has added a new perspective.
"But the really important point here is that nobody can be comfortable with the fact that really young children are being held in these circumstances, and clearly something needs to be done to improve the facilities they have available to them."
Kathleen Marshall, Scotland's Commissioner for Children and Young People, said: "Detention can cause lasting damage to the health and wellbeing of children and families; that's why I continue to argue strongly for alternatives to be developed.
"Alternatives should be put in place as soon as possible to demonstrate our commitment to treating children as children first and foremost, no matter what their immigration status."
The full article contains 498 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
