CHILD migrants detained under widely condemned new laws could develop suicidal behaviour, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, health experts have warned.

A coalition of leading medical organisations has written to the government to condemn the child detention provisions set out in the Illegal Migration Bill.

The groups said such provisions could leave young people suffering from a significant deterioration in their mental and physical health, including emotional and psychological regression, post-traumatic stress disorder, clinical depression and suicidal behaviour.

Yesterday they called for an urgent meeting with Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Health Secretary Steve Barclay.

The Royal College of Paediatrics & Child Health, the British Medical Association, the Royal College of Psychiatry and the Faculty of Public Health said in the letter: “As medical bodies and refugee organisations, we condemn the child detention provisions set out in the Illegal Migration Bill and request an urgent meeting with you to discuss our concern.”

The Bill, currently being debated in the Lords, would allow for the detention of children arriving in Britain by “unauthorised” means. 

It contains the power to remove unaccompanied youngsters, and those permitted to stay would be allowed to do so only until they turn 18 and would not be able to settle in the UK.

Signatories to the letter included Professor Kevin Fenton, president of the Faculty of Public Health, who urged the government to “put an end to these appalling proposals.” 

Paediatrician Professor Andrew Rowland said: “Detaining children for indefinite periods of time can cause unimaginable levels of harm and trauma.”

Dr Adrian James, president of the Royal College of Psychiatry, said the Bill’s potential to permit detaining children for indefinite periods is wholly unacceptable.

The letter, co-ordinated by the campaign coalition Together With Refugees, comes at the start of Refugee Week.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has insisted child migrants will not be separated from families and would be housed in “appropriate accommodation.”

The Home Office said: “It is vital we send a clear message that the exploitation of children, used by traffickers and ferried across the Channel, cannot continue.

“That is why families and children who come to the UK illegally will not be exempt from detention and removal under the Illegal Migration Bill."