The stark reality is that these people, whatever the ins and outs of individual cases, are in breach of the law and are at very high risk of going on the run. That they have children does not per se change that.

It may well be that asylum caseworking is too tight, and it may be that it is tight for the wrong reasons (ie the media demands it). However deportation is the end-point of a statutory process.

I am also a believer that if there were not so many people ‘vanishing’ then it would be easier for legitimate cases for immigration, be it as a asylum seeker, visitor or whatever, to be heard smpathetically. My wife, (British citizen) has just had her parent’s visit visa application rejected for a third time.

In my opinion Immigration detention is necessary at the very least for failed asylum seekers and their families and those who are appeals rights exhausted (gone through the system). In Australia I hear asylum seekers used to be incarcerated until their claims were determined and even now they are only allowed to reside on an island ie. away from Australian mainland.

As for guards using force and beating people, allegations need to be proven.

However, the fourth series deals with a similar situation – kids who are from the wrong side of town and who nobody really gives a crap about. The repercussions of this are painted in heartbreaking detail.

OK… I will now STOP with the proselytising!

(I think you may have scored a slight own-goal with this post, because I don’t think this is something anyone’s going to disagree with you on…)

A very good article by Johann Hari too, glad you linked to it. It makes me think of season 4 of The Wire, which deals with more or less the same issue in America.