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Saturday, 5th<\/sup> of March 2011.<\/p>\n Yarl\u2019s Wood continues.<\/p>\n The women behind the fences are saying something about their children, but it is difficult to hear what exactly.\u00a0 They seem to be shouting something about their right to stay with their children.\u00a0 Perhaps they are referring to the effects of recent policy changes.<\/p>\n In October, a case was brought forth<\/a> on behalf of two single mothers and their children<\/a> who were detained at Yarl\u2019s Wood<\/a> by UK Border Agency (UKBA) officers after dawn raids on their homes earlier in the year. In December 2010, in response, the government `signaled\u2019 its intention to bring to an end children\u2019s detention<\/a>. This included closure of the \u2018family unit\u2019 at Yarl\u2019s Wood Immigration Removal Centre and the suspension of children\u2019s detention in any immigration facility over the Christmas period.<\/p>\n In January 2011, a court decision established<\/a> that the detention of some families, including children in Yarl’s Wood, was unlawful. This decision required the government to bring to an immediate end the detention of children in immigration removal centers. The immediate response from the Home Office was that the detention of families \u2018would be kept to a minimum\u2019, while officials drew up ‘alternative arrangements\u2019 to \u2018protect the welfare of children without undermining immigration law<\/em>\u2019.<\/p>\n We demonstrated outside Yarl’s Wood<\/a> partly to denounce the government\u2019s \u2018skillful\u2019 use of publicity about ‘ending the detention of children’ as a way of avoiding talking about the brutal and inhumane detention regime in general<\/a>. But even among some of the civil society groups that have specifically supported the end of children detention, suspicions remain concerning the government\u2019s version of \u00a0\u201calternatives\u201d to child detention<\/a>. While the plan does not include any concrete improvement in terms of early access to legal aid for refugee applicants, it does mention the establishment of \u2018new family conferences\u2019. These would \u2018draw in lawyers, social workers and others\u2019, with the aim of providing \u2018realistic advice to people who had been refused refugee status on what their options were\u2019. For those who would not accept voluntary repatriation \u201cit would be necessary to detain them in \u2018secure accommodation\u2019 for periods of around 72 hours to ensure that their departure could be enforced\u2019.<\/p>\n