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Reply to Recommendation | Doc. 13790 | 19 May 2015
The alternatives to immigration detention of children
1. The Committee of Ministers has carefully
examined Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 2056 (2014) on “The
alternatives to immigration detention of children”, which it has
communicated to the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH),
to the European Committee on Legal Co-operation (CDCJ) and to the
Committee of Experts on the Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights
of the Child (2016-2019) (DECS-ENF), for information and possible
comments.
2. The Committee of Ministers shares the Assembly’s concerns
and points out that children’s rights are a priority for the Council
of Europe. It refers in particular to the situation of migrant children,
particularly unaccompanied minors, and considers that the Council
of Europe, drawing on the work that it has done in this field, has
a role to play in bringing to an end the immigration detention of
migrant children and in identifying alternatives to that practice.
In this context it points to the Twenty Guidelines on forced return
(2005), the Guidelines on child-friendly justice (2010) and the
principles put forward by the Council of Europe Strategy for the
Rights of the Child (2012-2015). The Committee of Ministers encourages
effective implementation of the Organisation’s relevant instruments
in this sphere.
3. The Committee of Ministers takes note of the Assembly’s recommendation
that a study be started to collect qualitative and quantitative
information about child immigration detention practices and the
use of non-custodial, community-based alternatives thereto, and
to promote the sharing of those practices across Europe. It should
be noted that the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)
has started several data collections and comparative analysis research
projects on children, which partly meet the Assembly’s request. The
Committee of Ministers considers that the FRA, in view of its competence
in conducting studies of this kind in the field of children’s rights,
and in order to avoid duplication of efforts, could at this stage
be the appropriate body, on the basis of the results of previous
research, to carry out the data collection proposed by the Assembly.
The Committee of Ministers nevertheless expresses its readiness
to study subsequently, on the basis of any work done by the FRA
in this field, the possibility of collecting data concerning other
Council of Europe member States relating to, in particular, the
use of alternatives to the immigration detention of migrant children,
thereby contributing to the dissemination of the best existing practices
amongst Council of Europe member States.
4. Where the proposal that guidelines appropriate to migrant
children be drawn up for the application of age assessment procedures
is concerned, the Committee of Ministers acknowledges the importance
of this issue and points out that the Council of Europe has already
co-operated with some of its member States to ensure that the age
assessment procedures used are compatible with the Organisation’s
human rights standards. It nevertheless notes the lack of consensus
about the procedures to be applied for more accurate determination of
an individual’s age. In this context, it draws attention to the
study by the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) on age assessment
practice in Europe, which covers EU member States. The Committee
of Ministers welcomes the work already done by the Assembly in relation
to migrant children and suggests that, on this basis, the Assembly
could identify more of the best current age assessment practices
in Council of Europe member States. This work could serve as a sound
basis for continuing co‑operation with the member States which express
a wish for this, as well as for a further examination of the feasibility
of drafting guidelines.