Brussels, 08/02/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 8 February, the commissioner for human rights at the Council of Europe, Thomas Hammarberg, stated his position against the detention of non-accompanied minors illegally residing in Europe. He referred to the situation where every year “thousands of migrant children are placed in detention”. According to the commissioner, despite the shortage of statistical information in Europe, 368 migrant children had been placed in detention in France in 2009. He explained that children “of an average age of eight” had been detained with members of their families but had nonetheless “suffered damaging effects from detention and had lived in a climate of anxiety”.
Hammarberg deplored the fact that in many countries, minors are brought by force to detention centres, with a view to their subsequent deportation. The commissioner for human rights at the Council of Europe said that these children are “detained in conditions that are almost prison-like, although they are not guilty of any crime”. He is calling on host countries to “review their procedures because the policy that they are currently applying is inhumane” and even in contravention of the United Nations Convention on children's rights, according to which, detention “must only be a measure of last resort and be for as short a period as possible”.
The United Kingdom is mentioned as an example. He is also urging member states to implement “humane solutions” for non-accompanied minors, so that they can “benefit from smaller scale accommodation structures, which provide greater privacy and care”. Hammarberg affirms that minors should have “access to education”. On this point, he also notes that host countries should look at the United Kingdom as an example, a country “that left a lot to be desired, with almost 2,000 children placed in detention every year” but which, the commissioner writes, decided to “put an end to this practice”. Belgium has also recently changed its practices with regard to the detention of non-accompanied minors in open centres, as opposed to the previous closed centres.
According to Hammarberg, these new approaches would therefore comply more effectively with an “action plan for non-accompanied minors” adopted by the European Union in May 2010. This action plan highlights the children's prevailing interest in all decisions affecting them, advocates a maximum six month deadline for making decisions, and outlines appropriate accommodation conditions for minors. Michele Cercone, however, the spokesperson for the Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, explained on Tuesday 8 February that the action plan does authorise exceptional detentions, which are “possible in cases where the protection of the child's interest is at stake”. This could, for example, involve situations when the child is at risk of falling into the hands of human trafficking networks or when it involves reconciling the minor with his or her family.
The spokesperson for Malmström indicated that the detention of unaccompanied minors was counter to EU recommendations but that sometimes it was crucial for member states to decide on this measure “on a case-by-case basis”. Cercone also recognised that there was a danger that possible abuses could be committed by member states and explained that the Commission had always “intervened in cases involving a violation of European law”. Activists and NGOs should therefore identify these cases of malpractice involving unaccompanied minors and the Commission would intervene “with its customary instruments”, namely its infringement procedures, explained Cercone. (S.P./transl.fl)