The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly notes that although the legislation of most member States provides for the introduction of alternatives to detention, the majority of countries are not applying them in practice. The Assembly calls for an end to the detention of migrant children.
Key Words Archives: Child-friendly
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), General comment No. 12 (2009): The right of the child to be heard
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Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (CMW) and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on the general principles regarding the human rights of children in the context of international migration
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The Joint General Comment of the CMW and CRC addresses the human rights of all children, independently of their or their parents’ status, in the context of international migration. Fundamental principles like non-discrimination, the best interests of the child and the right to be heard need to be integrated by States Parties into migration-related frameworks, policies and practices.
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), General comment No. 14 (2013) on the right of the child to have his or her best interests taken as a primary consideration (art. 3, para. 1)
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The Committee considers that the elements to be taken into account when assessing and determining the child’s best interests, as relevant to the situation in question, are: the child’s views; the child’s identity; the preservation of the family environment and maintaining relations; care, protection and safety of the child; situation of vulnerability; the child’s rights to health and to education.
UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), General comment No. 6 (2005): Treatment of Unaccompanied and Separated Children Outside their Country of Origin
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The objective of this general comment is to draw attention to the particularly vulnerable situation of unaccompanied and separated children; to outline the multifaceted challenges in ensuring that such children are able to access and enjoy their rights; and, to provide guidance on the protection, care and proper treatment of unaccompanied and separated children based on the entire legal framework provided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 1810 (2011): Unaccompanied children in Europe: issues of arrival, stay and return
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The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly establishes that child protection rather than immigration control should be the driving concern in how countries deal with unaccompanied children. Unaccompanied children should never be detained. The detention of children on the basis of their or their parents’ immigration status is contrary to the best interests of the child and constitutes a child rights violation as defined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.