Global report and campaign to end immigration detention of children to be launched at UN Human Rights Council
Children do not belong in detention!
Global report and campaign to end immigration detention of children to be launched at UN Human Rights Council
this press release is embargoed until 21 March 2012
Johannesburg 19th March 2012: Every day, around the world, thousands of children, many of them unaccompanied minors, are deprived of their freedom and are locked up simply because they do not hold the right documents or any documents. Children are often detained after fleeing abuse, poverty and war. This growing practice by governments has a devastating effect on the physical, emotional and psychological development of children and must be stopped.
These are some of the findings of the “Captured Childhood” report that will be published on 21st March by the International Detention Coalition (IDC). The report and campaign calling for an end to immigration detention of children will be launched at the 19th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, together with the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants and the Swedish and Belgian governments
The report highlights the harrowing story of children from around the world: Dakari, a 15 year old boy from Zimbabwe who was deported from South Africa explains the harsh conditions of his detention:
“Sometimes we were sleeping on the floor without blankets; we were staying there for a long time because they were telling us there was no transport to Zimbabwe to deport us. We stayed there for a whole month. The building was made from iron sheets and the food was also another problem, we only received one meal a day, just bread, sometimes with soup. Since we were mixed with thugs and other adults they would take the soup from us. It was very difficult for the children to find a place to sleep.”
According to Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, spokesperson for Lawyers for Human Rights and IDC Southern African representative, “South Africa’s attitude and treatment of foreign unaccompanied children is appalling. Despite many legal protections which are in place on how to treat foreign unaccompanied children, children in South Africa are routinely detained and deported without any special considerations for their protection and care.”
While South Africa is progressive in terms of legal protections for undocumented and unaccompanied foreign children in its territory, these legal protections do not always translate into practical and therefore effective protections. Section 138 of the South African Children’s Act prohibits the unlawful detention of children, as well as their removal without a court order. Despite this, large numbers of unaccompanied minors are detained in police cells and then deported, mostly to Zimbabwe, without safeguards to ensure legal oversight or consideration of the best interests of the child. It has been reported that between October and December 2011 South Africa deported, 86 children between the ages of 2-17 years to Zimbabwe.
Most governments do not keep or release data about child detention. A key ask is for governments is to count and register children and to not detain them. The IDC estimates that there are tens of thousands of children in detention every day and hundreds of thousands every year. Of the countries keeping track, Australia alone currently holds 528 children in secure and remote facilities. France detained 456 children with families in 2010.
“Governments should not detain children just because they are fleeing abuse, war and poverty or don`t have any papers. Many of these children are unaccompanied minors who have lost their parents or are already traumatized and just want safety” said Jeroen Van Hove, IDC Campaign Coordinator
“No child should be locked up. These children and families do not pose any threat to the community. Governments go through the lengthy process of determining whether they can stay or not”, he added.
Of the estimated 200 million migrants who crossed international borders in 2010, around a quarter were children. The campaign calls on States to treat migrant children first and foremost as children and stop detaining them. The liberty of the child is a fundamental human right.
“This campaign is about human rights and about taking the rights of the child seriously. It is never in the best interests of a child to be detained for immigration purposes. States should ensure that a minimum level of protection and support for children is in place in the community”, says Glynis Clacherty a leading child rights activist in South Africa.
The campaign will start this year with a focus on countries of concern including Australia, Greece, South Africa, Malaysia, the United States and Mexico. Every month, the country focus will change and national activities will support the ongoing international campaign work.
The report ‘Captured Childhood’ is based on interviews with 70 children in 11 countries and draws on international law to ask for an end to child detention. A model to prevent child detention is described and builds on good practices identified in research done by the International Detention Coalition (IDC), the global coalition that founded the campaign. Detention even for a very short period of time can cause long lasting damage and is unnecessary in the case of children and families.
The report “Captured childhood”
The IDC developed a research project to investigate the experiences of children in immigration detention, resulting in the policy document ‘Captured Childhood’. This document provides the evidence needed, highlighting the way forward, and allows the IDC to support the global campaign to end the immigration detention of children. The report also presents a model for child sensitive community assessment and placement. The model, the recommendations as well as the full report are available at www.idcoalition.org/ccap as of March 21st.
"Ample evidence shows that detention policies are seriously damaging to the short and longer term mental health and development of young people. In detention parents loose the authority over their children since they are no longer in control of when they eat or sleep and everyone suffers”, said Madelyn Hicks, child psychiatrist, at the launch event at the UN Human Rights Council.
There are a handful of countries around the world, such as Belgium, Argentina and Japan that have successfully put the interests of the child first and use community based alternatives to immigration detention.
Human rights and refugee rights groups from all over the world came together in 2006 to build this campaign and engage with their governments on alternatives to immigration detention for children. With the support of the Princess Diana Memorial Fund, today this becomes a global public facing campaign. Forty organisations have already formally endorsed the campaign.
As of today, members of the general public can sign a global petition, calling for an end to immigration detention of children. This will be presented to the Human Rights Council in one year’s time. There is a separate call to action for anyone under 18, they can record a video message of support and post it on the YouTube channel: Speak up behind bars. From the 21st March, children around the world will be recording messages of support for those children in detention who are unable to speak up for themselves at www.youtube.com/speakupbehindbars .
An eight-year-old girl from Australia said in her YouTube message: “If I was in detention I would miss my mum and dad, I want to say to those children in detention, I hope that they get out soon”. (Watch on www.youtube.com/speakupbehindbars). Any child can submit a message on www.endchilddetention.org with his or her parent’s approval.
End the immigration detention of children! www.endchilddetention.org
For further information please call:
Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh
IDC Southern Africa Representative/ Lawyers for Human Rights
Tel: +27 11 339 1960 / +27 84 514 8039 / kaajal [at] lhr [dot] org [dot] za
Or
Glynis Clacherty
Child rights activist on tel +27 83 297 7911
To see a list of events and campaign actions around the world, go to www.idcoalition.org