***FOR IMMEDIATE DISSEMINATION***
Thursday 10th March 2011

The children's charity Barnardo's is legitimising the continued use of detention for children by agreeing to provide welfare services at a "pre-departure accommodation" centre the government plans to open in Pease Pottage near Crawley in Sussex.

As part of Brighton and London No Borders' campaign against the latest attempt to build a detention centre in the Crawley area, we are asking anyone concerned with the ongoing detention of children to join an email campaign against the proposed 'pre-departure accommodation' planned for Pease Pottage in Sussex.

If we can persuade the Mid Sussex District Council District Planning Committee that this Home Office proposed operation can in anyway be considered to be a secure facility, reneging on the Coalition's promise to end the "detention of children for immigration purposes", we can stop this glorified PR exercise and force the government to truly end this barbaric practice.

Please encourage the wide distribution of this statement, draft email and lists of the planning committee members and all 54 Mid Sussex District Councillors. And get emailing people! The more they all hear about this the better. If a mass email campaign help work in thwarting the forestry sell-off, then it can certainly help end the locking up of children for the mere convenience of the Home Office and UK Border Agency.

NB The current date for the planning meeting to consider the application is 17 March, so please hurry!

Midsussex Council has today published the planning application for the planned detention facility for families and children in Pease Pottage. However, to our surprise the council has not published the application itself, but a letter from the Home Office asking the council not to publish the application details as they are "sensitive information".