The Green Party is calling for Youth Justice Residences to close, following a protest in which a group of young people spent the night on the roof of an Oranga Tamariki justice facility.

“Rangatahi deserve more than child prisons and military bootcamps. They deserve opportunities," says the Green Party Spokesperson for Youth, Tamatha Paul.

“Instead of punching down on our most vulnerable, we should be providing our rangatahi with meaningful life opportunities, healthcare that addresses their needs, but most importantly, the love and care that they have never, ever had in their short lives.

“The Greens are calling for an end to Youth Justice Residences and military-style bootcamps. Our young people deserve a system which sets them up to rebuild their lives, not to be confined to prisons which perpetuate trauma, isolation and violence

“There are young people out there who cannot imagine a life for themselves outside of prison walls, and that is a failure of successive governments, and a moral failure of our society.

“I have visited these youth justice residences and can confirm that they are child prisons. They are filled with the most vulnerable rangatahi in our country who have come from extreme levels of poverty and family abuse.

“What’s happened at Korowai Manaaki is not a unique situation. Years of research and experience shows that youth justice residences are re-traumatising and ineffective.

“When the Office of the Children’s Commissioner reported on Korowai Manaaki recently, they revealed inappropriate and deeply troubling practices within the residences. Unfortunately, this culture can be seen across the youth justice space in Aotearoa and is a product of politicians who put winning votes above the real needs of children.

“The young people leaving these residences do not feel empowered or able to turn their lives around which leads to a lifetime of incarceration and a complete loss of human potential. It’s time to close them down.” says Tamatha Paul.

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