Brotherhood joins other groups in opposing detention of children as deeply harmful to their welfare

The Brotherhood of St Laurence today joined other organisations in the child and family welfare sector in calling on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to release from detention children and their families who are seeking asylum.

The Brotherhood of St Laurence today joined other organisations in the child and family welfare sector in calling on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to release from detention children and their families who are seeking asylum.

The call came in an open letter to Mr Turnbull co-signed by more than 70 organisations which expresses deep concern 'that the Australian Government continues to lock children up indefinitely in detention – particularly given the overwhelming expert evidence pointing to the life-long psychological harm detention inflicts on children, as well as the significant risk it poses to their physical health and safety'.

'All children have the right to grow up in a safe, healthy environment and to reach their full potential,' the letter says.

The signatories call on the Government as a matter of urgency to release all children, along with their families, into the Australian community where they can live freely, attend school, make friends and grow and develop in a safe, healthy, nurturing environment.

It follows the High Court ruling this week that Australia's offshore detention at Nauru and Manus Island is valid under the constitution. The Government said earlier that it intended to send a group of people seeking asylum that includes babies and children back to Nauru if it won the case.

See the full open letter to Malcolm Turnbull co-signed by more than 70 organisations on the website for the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare.

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