Asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant children

The Committee recalls its previous recommendations, and recalling the joint general comments No. 3 and No. 4 of the CMW/No. 22 and No. 23 of the CRC (2017) on the human rights of children in the context of international migration, and recommends that the State Party adopt legislation ensuring that adequate reception and care arrangements are available for all children, regardless of age, seeking to benefit from international protection.

The Committee recommends that the State Party allocate more resources to reception centres where unaccompanied children live and strengthen the inspection system.

The Committee recommends that the State Party transfer responsibility for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children aged 15-18 to the child welfare service in order to ensure that these children receive as good care provision as other children.

The Committee recommends that the State Party ensure a child-friendly asylum process, including safeguarding the right of every child to be heard and that the best interests of the child are specifically assessed and given weight in expulsion cases, ensuring that children are not returned in breach of the non-refoulment principle.

The Committee recommends that the State Party eliminate temporary residence permits for unaccompanied asylumseeking children aged 16-18 and provide an interim measure until the asylum process is decided upon.

The Committee recommends that the State Party ensure that the age assessment procedure is in line with the principle of the presumption of minority and give the person concerned the opportunity to challenge the outcome through a judicial procedure, and further ensure that age assessment procedures are undertaken only in cases of doubt about the age of the person concerned, are subject to the informed assent of the child, are conducted in a safe, child and gendersensitive manner, and are undertaken by an independent, multi-disciplinary team with appropriate expertise. While the procedure is under way, the State Party should ensure that the person concerned is treated as a child and remains within the child protection system.

The Committee recommends that the State Party prohibit the detention of children in connection with immigration cases.

The Committee recommends that the State Party take immediate administrative measures to prevent and detect the disappearance of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and improve its investigation.

The Committee recommends that the State Party ensure that asylum-seeking children arriving with an adult without parental responsibility in reception centres receive the quality of care they are entitled to under the Convention.