Unaccompanied migrant children

Tuesday, September 20 at the 33rd session of Human Right Council the Advisory Committee presented his thematic report (A /HRC/33/53 /E) which provided a first reading to the unaccompanied migrant children growing problem. A phenomenon which, according to available data, has the dimensions of more than 30 million migrant children every year,of which the majority appear to be unaccompanied children.

In the report, it is stressed that unaccompanied migrant children represent a particularly vulnerable group exposed to violations of their human rights such as forced labor, drug trafficking, trafficking of human beings and sexual exploitation (see paragraph 56 2 57 A/HRC/33/53/E). The root causes of the phenomenon are linked to poverty in countries of origin, to situations of war and widespread violence and other situations of non-respect for human rights that children living in their home countries. But often for the young migrants a great motivation to migrate is linked to the impossibility of building a decent future in their home country.

In addition to submit a written intervention, APG23, during the interactive dialogue with the Expert Group, it has stressed the situation of these children traveling sometimes for months through the most absurd violence and we drew clear that before being refugees or migrants, regular or irregular, they are children, and they must be protected as defined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In his conversation with the Committee of Experts, we have reiterated that the detention is inconsistent with the best interest of the child and represents a clear violation of child’s rights. In our intervention we finally asked what steps you can take to protect in particular migrant adolescents, how to improve procedures to allow the families reunions and how to allow the participation of children in all procedures affecting them. The text of our intervention was co-signed by 13 other organizations who have shared with us the urgent need to strongly denounce the need to strengthen the protection of this category of migrants.

Just the same days (on 09.19.2016) UN General Assembly in New York was held an international colloquium on the situation of migrants and refugees.

Eminent personalities and politicians from around the world gathered around a table to try to give an answer to a phenomenon that can no longer be regarded as simply a temporary emergency but is increasingly becoming a real tragedy of this new century.

Among the many words that were spoken mention the speech of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights of Migrants - Mr. François Crépeau, who confirmed clearly that minors can not be detained because irregular migrants and humanitarian channels are the only solution that enables respect for human rights, the dignity and lives of millions of our brothers and sisters on their way.