THE PRACTICE of young children being held at Dungavel detention centre is set to come to an end, the Sunday Herald can reveal. Scottish ministers are actively seeking to close the controversial secure facility. Young children are held there ahead of deportation.

On Friday night, Save The Children and the Scottish Refugee Council were among agencies that met with the Scottish government and immigration officials, who agreed to look at alternatives to locking up children at Dungavel.

Talks have also been held between the Scottish government and Whitehall, aimed at finding a solution to the problem. Fiona Hyslop, the education minister, is to inspect a pilot scheme in Margate, Kent, where failed asylum seekers and their children are held in open hotel-style facilities and the deportation process is less traumatic. She is in talks with the UK immigration minister, Liam Byrne, and Phil Taylor, director of the Border and Immigration Agency in Scotland, Phil Taylor, about introducing a similar type of scheme here.

Campaigners have denounced Dungavel as "inhumane" and "Scotland's shame". Charities say it amounts to a prison and have campaigned to stop it being used to lock up children. Save the Children has called for the immediate end of detention of children.

Immigration officials often take families to Dungavel following dawn raids, a practice that has been condemned as causing extreme trauma to children.

Hyslop said: "The Kent pilot is welcome as a potentially more humane way of approaching the issue, and I am looking at the possibility of doing something similar in Scotland. Asylum seekers must be treated fairly and humanely. The welfare and rights of asylum-seeking children are our paramount concerns.

"The Scottish government remain fundamentally opposed to dawn raids and the detention of children, and I have raised my concerns with Liam Byrne. We will continue to pursue these and other issues with Home Office ministers."

Susan Fisher, Save the Children's assistant director for protection in Scotland, said: "Many asylum-seeking children live in constant fear of detention and removal, for the second time in many cases.

"Some of the families have been in Scotland for years and know no other home. These children can't wait to be made safe - government needs to act now to end the detention of children. Alternatives need to be put in place that will stop any more children having to experience fear and uncertainty. Detention is no place for a child."

During 2006, 122 children were held at Dungavel, usually for less than 72 hours, according to HM Chief Inspector of Prisons' 2006 annual report. Eight, however, were held for more than three days, and two for 32 days.

One agency worker who works with families at Dungavel, and who asked to remain anonymous, told the Sunday Herald: "It is absolutely heartbreaking for the families and harrowing for the small children to go through this.

"One recent case we worked with was a women from Asia with four very young children. She was living in Glasgow and doing her best to cope with the complexity of the asylum process and dealing with her medical problems. She had no friends and no extended family. She was in no danger of absconding.

"Her asylum application failed, and while she and her lawyer were preparing to put forward fresh evidence, they came to get her and her children before Christmas. She wasn't allowed to pack up, she had no spare clothes for herself or her children. She and her children were extremely distressed.

"They were detained in Dungavel and then another removal centre for over 40 days, then deported. Those children spent Christmas locked up, with no clothes, toys or presents and in a state of extreme anxiety and upset. There is no reason that can justify the way we treat these children."

Sally Daghlian, chief executive of the Scottish Refugee Council, said: "We welcome any moves to keep children out of detention and have been pushing the government on alternatives for some time.

"Children should not be detained for the purpose of immigration control. Detention, even for a short period, is a traumatic experience, which has a serious impact on their physical and mental health, personal development and education."

A Border and Immigration Agency spokesperson said: "Detention of families and children is an emotive issue, but it happens and will continue to happen when those who have no right to stay in the UK will not leave voluntarily. Detention will always be for as short a time as possible."

Even the shortest stay in detention can cause long-term psychological damage that could be irreversible. Criminologist and former prison governor Professor David Wilson of Birmingham City University said: "The main consequences of incarcerating children are stigmatising them and making them suffer the pains of confinement.

"Children who have been locked up have a much higher chance of self-harm, depression and suicide attempts. They are also likely to become offenders. Because they are dislocated from normal children's activities, they are denied a normal childhood, and psychologists agree that the impact of this is devastating. We are treating children like the human equivalent of devil dogs'."

A Scottish government spokesperson said: "The Scottish government and a number of organisations are looking at the possibility of a Scottish pilot of the Margate programme. Initial discussions took place on Friday. We are extremely interested in pursuing the option of this potential pilot."

Last week Byrne announced plans to safeguard children in detention and the removal process, but did not end the practice of detaining children.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "We are not willing to comment on the possible closure of Dungavel."