Describing Citizens UK as “one of the most effective lobbying organisations ever”, the immigration minister, Damian Green, last night pledged that there would be no more children of families seeking sanctuary in immigration centres by the end of the summer, and certainly by Christmas.

He said that “weeks, rather than months” after a government review of detention ends on 1 June “we will be able to announce the solution and then we will have got to the point where children are not detained for immigration purposes in the UK”.

Speaking at Westminster Abbey at an event organised by the Citizens UK campaign Citizens for Sanctuary, he said it was not just a duty but a pleasure to end the practice.

“This will be a better country when we don’t detain children for immigration purposes”, he said, adding: “There is no getting away from the fact that if you are a civilised decent human being the sight of young children locked up behind bars should make you feel profoundly uneasy.”

Citizens for Sanctuary is campaigning for the implementation of 180 reforms to the asylum system recommended by the Independent Asylum Commission, which was appointed by Citizens UK. Ending child detention has been key to the campaign’s efforts to secure a more humane and just system of receiving people seeking sanctuary.

The coalition government’s commitment to ending the detention of children for immigration purposes was the result of intense lobbying by the Citizens for Sanctuary “Sanctuary Pledge” campaign, which was backed byb 18 national organisations representing 7 million people. They include the major Christian Churches, as well as the Muslim Council of Britain, the Board of Deputies of British Jews, and others.

In January community leaders  were trained by Citizens for Sanctuary in 15 areas across the UK, while 500 champions of community organising organised teams of people in 162 key constituencies. Visits were organised to the main detention centre in Bedfordshire at Yarl’s Wood. The campaign was an unprecedented attempt to change minds and hearts on the issue.

Leaders and organisers of the Citizens for Sanctuary campaign met key ministers, shadow ministers and representatives from the UK Borders Agency in the run-up to the general election to explore options for ending child detention.

The breakthrough came at the 3 May Citizens UK General Election assembly, when the future prime minister and deputy prime ministers pledged to end the practice and to include Citizens UK in the working party to find alternatives.

Citizens UK is having a major input into the Government’s review over the next six weeks.

Mr Green also congratulated Citizens for Sanctuary campaigners for securing a more humane reception centre at the immigration processing centre at Lunar House in Croydon.”I’m pleased to say that when I went there last week it now looks like an entry point for human beings rather than cattle. So that’s one significant thing you chalked up even before the issue of children in detention,” he told the gathering at Westminster Abbey.

He said it was important to separate the issue of sanctuary from that of immigration, to prevent extremist parties claiming that they represent the mass of British people. He said the Government were also carrying out “a general review of the asylum system … to ensure that decisions are right first time, because much of the misery in the current system, as many people here will know, is caused by the sheer length of time it takes time to come to a decision. It’s not good for the individual asylum seeker, but it’s also not good for the taxpayer, and it’s not good for the general confidence in the system.”

He praised Citizens for Sanctuary for representing what he called a “sensible and humane” view of asylum policy.

“The mass of the British people are perfectly sensible and humane on this subject and their views need representing”, he said, adding: “Citizens for Sanctuary reflects many of those views  and as I said at the start, represents them very, very successfully. I think you’re a tremendously successful lobbying group and you should all congratulate yourselves and pat yourselves on the back this evening.”

Referring to widespread press coverage at Christmas last year over the refusal by Yarl’s Wood to allow Citizens for Sanctuary leaders to give Christmas presents to the children locked inside, Neil Jameson, Citizens UK executive director (left in picture below), asked Mr Green if he could confirm there would be no children there by next Christmas.

“There should be no need for anyone to dress up as Father Christmas this Christmas at Yarl’s Wood this year,” the minister joked. “If anyone has to, I will.”