Mother and boy, 4, taken to Dungavel in dawn raid

Published on Friday 15 May 2009 00:33

A WOMAN and her four-year-old son are being held at a detention centre after an early morning raid yesterday.

Fatou Felicite Gaye, 38, and her son, Arouna, were taken from a property in the Sighthill area of Glasgow to Dungavel detention centre, South Lanarkshire.

The Unity Centre, an asylum seeker support group in Glasgow, said Ms Gaye, who comes from the Ivory Coast, and her son will be deported on Monday.

Unity said that the raid came just days after a pilot project was announced in the city to encourage failed asylum seekers to return home voluntarily.

The initiative, to be piloted next month, is aimed at reducing the number of "dawn raids". The practice, which sees families taken to Dungavel ahead of deportation, is widely criticised.

SNP MSP Christina McKelvie, whose constituency covers Dungavel, branded the detention of a child "an absolute disgrace".

The UK Border Agency said all removals were undertaken with "extreme care".

It is understood Ms Gaye had an asylum claim rejected in 2005 and has since had five appeals refused.