Campaigners have condemned the opening of a new facility to house asylum seekers and their children, six months after the government promised to end the mistreatment of minors in immigration centres.
Details of the centre, due to open next month in Croydon, south London, emerged amid anger over figures revealing that more than 100 children have been detained since the May general election, despite deputy prime minister Nick Clegg's description of child detention as "state-sponsored cruelty" and a "moral outrage".
Campaigners claim the new accommodation facility would "replicate" some of the worst aspects of conditions at the notorious Yarl's Wood immigration centre.
Medical studies found children detained in Yarl's Wood suffered significant distress, including acute depression and suicidal thoughts, and were prone to self-harm. Clegg announced in July that its family wing would close as part of government plans to end the detention of children awaiting deportation.
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