A collection of letters from
children separated from
their parents by
immigration detention
These letters were sent by children –
either to their parents in detention,
or to immigration judges, who were
considering their parents’ bail
applications.
‘Dear Sir or Madam,
My name is XXXXX, I am 17 years old. Not
having my mother around has proved to be
immensely hard for me, I find it difficult to
keep telling my 10 year old brother that our
mother is coming home soon, not knowing if
she’s actually going to come home.’
(‘Damian’, 17 years)
‘I pray every night and every morning, hoping
that my mum will be released from where she
is. I seriously feel like I’ll literally go mad if
she’s not released soon. The situation my
Mother is in has affected me both physically
and mentally.. I have lost weight, I don’t eat a
lot, I have nightmares of her never coming
home..
I do not go to college because of the lack of
concentration I now possess. In school I was
an A* student however when it came to doing
my exams I did not do well, due to the stress
and worry I have on my mind, day in day out.’
(‘Damian’, 17 years)
‘Numerous events have taken place that make me
cry, one of them for example is Mother’s Day.
Mother’s Day was one of the most difficult days
for me this year, all of my friends were talking
about gifts they bought for their Mum and how
happy their Mum was for receiving the gifts, I felt
so alienated.
I normally treat my Mum on Mother’s Day to
breakfast in bed and special little gifts that I know
she enjoys, but I have not been able to do so for a
long while now, it hurts not knowing when the
next time is that I’ll experience Mother’s Day with
my Mum.’
(‘Damian’, 17 years)
(‘Stephen’, 7 years)
‘Since my mum hasn’t been around my
younger brother has been very emotional he
cries for everything – he craves motherly love
and affection. He often speaks about mum
and how he misses her and often cries after
speaking to her on the phone.
My sister often gets stressed out and
frustrated about things. She’s at an age where
she needs motherly attention. We need our
mum to cook and look after us.’
(‘Lenny’, 19 years)
(‘Stephanie’, 8 years)
‘When my mom was taken from me it was one
of the hardest things I had to go through, I
didn’t know what to do with my life. Then she
called, she said I should carry on with my life, go
college, and she would be out soon.
I loved her so much I listened to her and I
started college. One day she called me and told
me she was being moved to a detention centre
until further notice.’
(‘Matt’, 17 years)
‘When she was at the detention centre she told
me they had given her a phone - I could keep
into contact with her. With that I phoned my
mom every day just to hear her voice, but that
hadn’t help that much because I wanted to see
my mom.
I pray every day to see my mom again and it
would be a good feeling if she could just come
back in my life so everything could get back to
normal.’
(‘Matt’, 17 years)
‘I would like to see mom again because.. I would
wake up every morning knowing that my mom is
just in the next room.
If I wasn’t to see my mom again my life would
turn upside down because I wouldn’t know what
to do. My brother would grow up thinking he
hasn’t got a mom. He would see his baby
pictures with his mom and would be wondering
what had happen and probably blame it on
himself.’
(‘Matt’, 17 years)
(‘Stephen’, 7 years)
(‘Nina’, 14 years)
(‘Ben’, 7 years)
‘Mina’, three years old, was too young to write to
her dad herself, so her foster carers sent this letter
to him; he had been in immigration detention for
eighteen months at this point.
‘Mina is very busy in nursery learning lots of
Christmas songs for the Christmas concert. She will
be an angel and we are.. getting her costume ready,
I will try to take photos.
She received the photos of her visit with Daddy and
we have put them into an album so that she can
take them out with her and they will not get spoilt.
She enjoys looking at them and showing them to
her friends.’
(‘Ben’, 7 years)
(‘Stephanie’, 8 years)
(‘Stephanie’, 8 years)
(‘Stephanie’, 8 years)
(‘Hana’, 8 years)
(‘Hana’, 8 years)
(‘James’, 18 years)
(‘James’, 18 years)
(‘James’, 18 years)
(‘James’, 18 years)
(‘James’, 18 years)
(‘David’ , 10 years)
(‘Faith’ , 12 years)
(‘Faith’ , 12 years)
(‘Faith’ , 12 years)
(‘Henry’ , 11 years)
(‘Henry’ , 11 years)
(‘Henry’ , 11 years)
(‘Simon’ , 8 years)
(‘Simon’ , 8 years)
(‘Ian’ , 10 years)