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| MAGINNESS
CALLS FOR PROPER TREATMENT OF ASYLUM SEEKERS SDLP Justice Spokesperson Alban Maginness said he is shocked by revelations of asylum seekers being handcuffed in public. Commenting on a report from the Prisons Inspector, he said: “This report vindicates the concerns voiced by our own Human Rights Commissioner, Monica McWilliams, about the treatment of asylum seekers. It is one thing to say that they cannot enjoy complete freedom in society while applications for asylum are being processed. It is quite another to subject them to the full rigours of the prison system and basically treat them as criminals. “People are being held for long periods in police cells in Belfast which are totally inadequate for the purpose. What happens when they are transferred to a holding centre in Scotland is worse. It is just plain wrong to take them onto the ferries in handcuffs. Worse still, parents who have to take their children for hospital appointments are being handcuffed. “Any society is judged by the way it treats the most vulnerable people, and this report is a serious indictment. I hope that the issues highlighted by this report will be rectified quickly, but we will certainly have to address this issue when justice is devolved.” |
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