Kurdish child asylum seekers win compensation for 13-month detention

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Dilovan, now 20, Newroz, 21, Beriwan, 23, and Medya, 16 - who was just seven when locked up for seeking asylum - Photograph: David Levene

Four Kurdish children were incarcerated for 13 months in United Kingdom, and have won a six-figure compensation from the home Office for unlawful detainment. This was a landmark case because the children were locked up for the longest duration of time in British history for seeking asylum.

Salih and Yurdugal Ay sought asylum with their four children in United Kingdom after escaping persecution in Turkey. Salih Ay was deported to Germany, and then back to Turkey where he disappeared.

In 2007, The Guardian published a special report about them “The Ay family became famous in Britain – emblematic of the miseries endured by asylum seekers trying to make their home in the west. They were split up, imprisoned, then deported. What happened next? Diane Taylor and Simon Hattenstone report” which you can read here.