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Leading News from Sri Lanka ::
Aug 31, Colombo: The British government is accused of holding minor children, most of them under five years of age, in immigration detention centers, a news report revealed.
According to a report in Saturday's Guardian newspaper, 470 minors were being detained with their families. Most of the children were from troubled countries such as Zimbabwe, Sudan, Sri Lanka, and Democratic Republic of Congo.
Official figures on the detention of the minors have been made public following pressure from children's rights groups and MPs.
The UK has one of the worst records in Europe for detaining children, but accurate figures on how many are held, or for how long, have remained elusive, the Guardian report said.
According to Guardian which has spoken to three families of children who had been detained between 19 and 71 days, the children are suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and they have lingering effects of detention.
"All the young people I have been talking to have lingering effects, after months and even after years" a consultant child psychotherapist who has worked with families in detention was quoted as saying.
Reportedly the British MPs and children's rights groups have called for an end to the "national scandal" that has allowed children to be locked up unnecessarily.
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