The General Electoral Window is Wide Open!

If you are one of the many people who “Sent one more card" last Christmas, in the hope of putting a stop to the damaging detention of asylum seeking children then there is plenty to be celebrating, but we need to keep up the pressure, running up to the General Election!

Citizens for Sanctuary are absolutely thrilled

that the Liberal Democratic Party has made a formal commitment to

"end the detention of children in immigration detention centres."

(See the Lib Dem printed manifesto, Fair is Worth Fighting For, pages 76-77.

Plaid Cymru has also written: "We condemn the practice of housing recently-arrived asylum seekers, especially children, in "detention" or "removal" centres."

Find out more at:
http://sanctuarypledge.blogspot.com/

End Child Detention Now have also been in touch with us:
• Please ask all your various prospective parliamentary candidates, and the canvassers who come to your door, where their candidate stands on this issue. Tell them why it is so important that children are not detained.
• Write to your local paper
• Consider holding a vigil in your church, your local house group, student group or union

Find out more at:
http://www.ecdn.org where there are model letters and details of planned activities.

The Conservative and Labour parties have not yet made any formal commitment to end the detention of asylum seeking children, but we know that there is a significant number of individuals in all the parties who agree that this is absolutely crucial. The Labour party has agreed to meet with a delegation from Citizens for Sanctuary after the Election to talk about alternatives to detention.

If there is a hung parliament, then the MPs of those other parties who have made a specific commitment – such as the Lib Dems and Plaid Cymru - will carry more weight!

Let us cry to God, on behalf of the asylum seeking children who are currently detained, and for an urgent change in the immigration structures and practices which allow this to happen. Amen