An attempt to bring some holiday spirit to children held in an immigration detainee center went awry.
…when the Anglican church’s leading expert on Father Christmas, dressed as St Nicholas himself, arrived with one of Britain’s most distinguished clerics to distribute presents to children held at the Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre in Bedfordshire, things took a turn straight out of Dickens.
He was turned away as a security threat, though he’d had prior approval. Experts are united in their opposition against detaining children, much less keeping them from getting a few goodwill gifts.
And thank you, Bro. Jay, for the link.
Dating Jesus 
Here’s a photo of the cheery and welcoming Yarl’s Wood
That looks awful. What do we do with the children of detainees here in the states, I wonder? Oh, wait. I remember this: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/03/25/us-review-cases-guantanamo-detainees-imprisoned-juveniles
Santa! A security threat!?!
To whom?
That’s just sick.
Isn’t it just? And now that I’ve read a little more about those poor kids in detention, it’s worse.
“Serco also refused permission for the two clerics to enter the centre to visit two refugee families later the same day, as it had previously agreed. They were handed letters from Dawn Elaine, contracts manager at Yarl’s Wood, saying permission had been revoked because of “concerns about your conduct”.”
Right. These big mucky-mucks are going to go in and rouse the rabble! They’re going to Be Kind! They’re — gasp — going to give the children PRESENTS!
“Step away from the sleigh, please. We need to explode it to make sure none of the toys is — well — explosive.”
I bet Miss Dawne Elaine (perfect name for a pastel-dressed dominatrix) is thrilled with herself for putting those damn Santa impersonators in their place(s).
I wish that public outcry could change things like this. It often does, enough people get noisy.