Source: http://ininet.org/committee-on-the-rights-of-the-child-the-rights-of-all-childre.html?page=3
Timestamp: 2018-01-23 13:22:50
Document Index: 108797431

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1', '§1', 'Application No. 50435', 'Application No. 38058', 'Art. 12', 'Art. 44', 'Art. 18', 'Art. 17', '§ 24', '§ 29', 'art. 16', '§ 62', '§ 62', '§40', '§67', 'Application no. 55597', '§ 22', 'art. 9', '§ 15']

Procedure for the assisted return of families - Committee on the rights of the child the rights of all children...
Procedure for the assisted return of families
As part of the removal process, families with children are placed in so-called 'open return houses', open-access accommodation where they receive counseling from a return coach. Family members are allowed to exit the house, providing that one adult member of the family remains present in the unit at all times. Children are allowed to attend school, although there are practical difficulties (due to lack of available space in schools, short windows of time prior to the return, etc.). Families have access to health care in addition to an obligatory medical check-up upon entering the return houses.40 However, neither a prohibition of the detention of families with children, nor the policy of ‘open return houses’ have been formalised in law. A new regulation came into force on 27 February 2012 allowing the detention of families pre-deportation in closed centres, if the centre is adapted to the needs of families with children and for as short a duration as possible.41 The government has announced proposals to create “family units” within closed detention centres.
1.1.7 Court Ruling: European Court of Human Rights “Popov v. France”42
A Kazakh couple whose applications for asylum and residence permits had been rejected was detained for a period of two weeks pending a planned deportation that ultimately did not transpire. They were accompanied by their two children, who were born in France in 2004 and 2007, respectively. The family was then released and later granted refugee status. The Court ruled that there had been a violation of Articles 3 and 5 §§ 1 and 4 (rights to liberty and security) in respect to the administrative detention of the children, and that there had been a violation of Article 8 in respect of the administrative detention of the whole family.
1.1.8 Court Ruling: European Court of Human Rights “Kanagaratnam v. Belgium”43
In a case brought by a Sri Lankan woman and her three children claiming that their stay in a (closed) detention center in early 2009 was in breach of Articles 3 and 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the ECtHR ruled that the detention breached the right to freedom of the children, and stated that detention centers do not provide adequate facilities for children.
1.1.9 Court ruling: Inter American Court of Human Rights “Velez Loor v. Panama (2001)”
The ruling prohibits criminalisation of irregular migration and points out that migration-related detention should only be an exceptional resort.
1.1.10 Court Ruling: France, Respect for the right to family life
In a ruling issued on 20 February 2012, the administrative tribunal of Mayotte released a father and his two children, a two-year-old and an eight-year-old, from detention at the Pamandzi detention center in Mayotte. The tribunal found that the conditions of detention undermined human dignity, not only for the children involved by the administrative detention of their parents, but also for the whole family. The detention thus amounted to inhumane and degrading treatment, prohibited by Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.44
1.1.11 Court Ruling: South Africa. High Court of South Africa, Case 22866/2004
The Court investigated the circumstances of the detention of migrant children held in a repatriation center and ordered that they be immediately removed and placed in an appropriate place of care or safety. The court stated that: a) a child’s best interests are of paramount importance in every matter concerning a child; b) unaccompanied foreign children that find themselves in the country irregularly should have legal representation appointed to them by the state; c) the detention of children in the Repatriation Centre is unlawful and invalid, and should cease immediately; and d) authorities have to work on detailed practical arrangements to ensure that unaccompanied foreign children are dealt with in accordance with the principles set out in legal instruments, such as the Constitution, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.
Prohibit deportation and detention that infringes children’s rights
To fulfil the principles of the CRC, particularly the best interests of the child, parents should never be deported in cases where children are nationals of the destination country. Instead, regularisation of their status should be considered. Children should be granted the right to be heard in proceedings concerning admission, residence and expulsion of their parents, and have access to administrative and judicial remedy against their parents’ deportation order. The best interest of the child should be a primary consideration during decisions about the deportation of a migrant family with irregular status. Instead, States should develop alternatives more in line with children’s best interests, including regularisation, and establish them in law and practice. Detention is never in the best interests of the child, so States should seek to ensure that child migrants are never detained due to their own migration status or that of their parents. Detention of migrant parents can severely impact children’s rights and development, including their right to family life. Detention of migrant families cannot be justified for the sake of family unity. Alternatives that meet the best interests of the child, along with guaranteeing their right to liberty and to family life, should be adopted.
DEPORTATION, THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILD AND THE PRINCIPLE OF FAMILY UNITY
2.1 PROMISING LEGISLATION AND PRACTICES ACROSS FIVE REGIONS
2.1.1 Legislation: Argentina
National Immigration Law 25.871 and the Law on the Recognition and Protection of Refugees 26.165 explicitly refer to the principle of family unity. According to article 70 of the Immigration Law, if an order of expulsion is issued for a migrant and it is proven that they are the spouse, parent, or child of a national, the order of expulsion shall be suspended and summary court proceedings for the regularisation of the family unit shall be initiated. If the kin is discovered during detention, the person shall be immediately freed. Article 22 of the same law recognises permanent residence for the family unit and extends it to the spouse, children, and parents of the Argentine national or resident.45
Legislation: Brazil
Statute of the Foreigner 6815/1980. Article 75 of the Statute of the Foreigner 6815/1980 mandates that whoever has a Brazilian spouse cannot be expelled if they are not separated or divorced. Additionally, the law requires that the union be at least five-years old. Nor can the parent of a Brazilian child be expelled if the child is under their care or financial support.
Legislation: Uruguay
Article 52 of the Immigration Law 18.250 anticipates the possibility of non-expulsion for those with irregular status based on circumstances of kinship with a national and the social and personal condition of the migrant.
2.1.4 Practice: Spain
Policy on non-deportation of children. Spanish policy provides that children are only repatriated if it is in their best interests; e.g. for family reunification. However, civil society and U.N. monitoring bodies and mechanisms have questioned whether a full ‘best interests’ determination procedure is conducted in practice. In this regard, the CRC Committee recommended that Spain: (a) takes all necessary measures to prevent irregular procedures in the expulsion of unaccompanied children; (b) coordinates with Governments of countries of origin, especially Morocco, to ensure that when children are repatriated they are returned to family members willing to care for them or to an appropriate social service agency; and (c) guarantees that following the identification of an unaccompanied child, an analysis of his/her individual circumstances is carried out, in light of the best interests of the child and the right of the child to be heard46.
2.1.5 Court Ruling: European Court of Human Rights “Nunez v. Norway”47
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) held that the removal of the mother of two children and application of a two-year re-entry ban would breach her right to private and family life because it would have a strong negative impact on her children and would not be in their best interests. The court found that there had been a violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Court Ruling: European Court of Human Rights “Kanagaratnam v. Belgium”48
2.1.7 Court Ruling: Inter American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) “Wayne Smith, Hugo Armendariz and others vs. the United States of America”49
Published in 2010, the background report on Wayne Smith and Hugo Armendáriz concerned a suit filed that year that dealt with a claim presented about a deportation decision that had been taken against both of them. According to the petitioners, in calling for deportation the State had violated, among other rights, the right to private and family life, the protection of the family, and the protection of maternity and childhood. With relation to the right to family life and the rights of the child (articles V, VI and VII of the American Declaration), the IACHR reiterated thatSstates have the ability to control the entrance and stay of non-citizens [...] Nevertheless, when decisions result in family separation, the criterion for limiting this right must be restricted. In this way, the IACHR held that the State violated the rights of the victims enshrined in articles V, VI, and VII of the American Declaration by not separately considering the rights to family life and the best interests of the children in its deportation procedures.
2.1.8 Court Ruling: Brazil. “Tribunal de Justicia de Brasil Hábeas Corpus Nº 217.409 - RR”50
The Court of Justice of Brazil held that the expulsion of a foreign person is inadmissible when the spouse is financially dependent on that person, insofar as “the expulsion of a foreigner married to a Brazilian woman, or having a Brazilian child who is dependent on the parental earnings is forbidden.”
2.1.9 Court Ruling: Colombia. “Raquel Estupiñán Enríquez, Acción de tutela c/ Resolución 230 del Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad”51
The chamber of the Constitutional Court held that “[...] the protection of childhood is a primary and unavoidable duty for the State, which must serve to guarantee the prevalence of the rights of children [...] and must guarantee them to all children without any distinction or discriminatory consideration [...].” The deportation of a foreign national who is a mother or father of a child is contrary to children’s fundamental right to a natural and legal family. Deportation and a prohibition against re-entry can disrupt the bond between parents and children.
2.1.10 Court Ruling: Costa Rica. “Zhong Guaquan, a favor de Ai Li Zhong y Du Yu Yun contra el Director General de Migración y Extranjería s/amparo”52
The Constitutional Court of Costa Rica held that the Constitution granted special State protection to the family. Accordingly, “no public policy, legal instrument, or regulation, or in general, active or passive administrative act shall tend towards the disintegration or dismembering of the family.” Moreover, it mentions that in the nuclear family, the mother occupies a very important role for the development of the child; therefore, the best interests of the child supersedes any possibility of depriving the child of the care, support, and presence of his or her mother.
2.1.11 Court Ruling: Japan. “Nagoya District Court 2009 (Gyo-U) Nº19”53
The Court noted that Article 3 of the CRC requires that the best interests of the child be taken into account when making any decision regarding that child, adding that it would be very difficult for a child born in the destination country who did not speak the language of the country of origin to be returned. The Court further found that it would not be in the child's best interests to be separated from his or her parents, and accordingly, any determination regarding the father, mother, and child should be made as one. Thus the deportation order was rescinded in its entirety.
2.1.12 Court ruling: South Africa. “Pretoria High Court. Centre for Child Law v. Minister of Home Affairs, 2005 (6) SA 50(T)
Regarding the deportation of foreign unaccompanied children from South Africa, the Court held that the legal mechanisms for the protection of South African children found in the Constitution apply equally to unaccompanied foreign children within South Africa’s borders. Thus, whenever a foreign child is found in need of care, such child must be placed in a safe location, and his or her personal circumstances must be investigated by a social worker; additionally, a Children’s Court inquiry must be opened, conducted and finalised.
2.1.13 Court Ruling: United Kingdom. “Tanzania v. Secretary of State for the Home Department”54
A Court of Appeal confirmed the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal’s decision to return the mother, assuming that her children could reasonably be expected to follow her to Tanzania. However, the Supreme Court ruled that it would not be in the best interests of the children to move to Tanzania, given that they had British nationality, had been raised and educated all their life in the United Kingdom, and had social links and a good relationship with their father. This judgment established that, even in a decision concerning the return of a parent, as long as the decision affects children, the child’s best interests are of primary importance. Indeed, in circumstances such as the one under review, the Court ruled that this is the primary consideration, prevailing over all other considerations.
Adopt legislation and institutional frameworks protecting children’s best interests.
Child protection legislation and institutional frameworks should prevail over migration laws and policies, guided by CRC provisions and principles. Childhood authorities should intervene and have priority over migration authorities in every procedure and decision regarding child migrants’ entrance, stay, and repatriation. States should make clear in their legislation, policy and practice that the principle of the best interests of the child always takes priority over migration and other administrative considerations.
THE RIGHT TO FAMILY REUNIFICATION AND THE RINCIPLE OF FAMILY UNITY
3.1 PROMISING LEGISLATION AND PRACTICES ACROSS FIVE REGIONS
3.1.1 Legislation: Canada
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act S.C. 2001, c. 27 recognizes the rights to unity and family reunification. According to Canadian legislation, a citizen or permanent resident of the country can solicit family reunification. For reunification with a foreign family member, the solicitor must be in an economic position to assume responsibility for the livelihood and social welfare of the family member or foreign spouse.55
3.1.2 Legislation: Costa Rica
Migration Law 8764 authorizes residence for family members of nationals and foreign residents. Article 73 of the law requires clear evidence of mutual knowledge by the spouses in order to authorize the entry of a non-national. Additionally Article 78 states that foreigners with temporary residence during three consecutive years, their spouses, and family members in the first degree of kinship may choose to obtain the category of permanent residence.56
3.1.3 Legislation: Uruguay
Migration Law 18.250 recognizes as inalienable the right to family reunification of migrants. Article 1 of the law guarantees the inalienability of the right to family unification for migrants.
3.1.4 Legislation: Mexico
The Immigration Law of 2011 establishes the best interests of the child as a primary criterion. Article 2 of the Immigration Law states that “[f]amily unity and the best interests of the child or adolescent, in addition to employment needs and humanitarian causes, are the primary criteria for admission and residence for foreigners seeking temporary or permanent residence in Mexico since the family unit is the substantive element for the creation of a healthy and productive social fabric of communities of foreigners in the country.” Article 10 states that “[t]he Mexican State guarantees the right of the preservation of family unity to migrants who attempt regular entry into the country or reside in its territory under regular status, as well as to those who attempt to regularize their migration status while in the country”. Finally, Articles 41, 52, and 55 of the same law regulate different aspects of family unity.
3.1.5 Legislation: Spain
Residence for parents of children who are Spanish nationals. The law on foreigners, 4/2000 (LOEX) Article 31.3 and Royal Decree 556/2000 regulated by LOEX Articles 123 to 130, foresees the possibility of obtaining temporary residence permits for the parents of children who have Spanish nationality under the framework of family settlement.57
Family reunification for domestic partners. Spain adjusted its legislation in order to allow the reunification of domestic partners, granting residence for relationships of affection analogous to matrimony, under the condition that they meet the requisites for recognition in Spain.58
3.1.6 Legislative reform: Denmark
Expedited government processing for children facing deportation. In light of numerous restrictions enacted by the previous government, the current Danish government has ordered a process of legislative reform seeking to make the laws on family reunification more flexible, so that children are not kept apart from their families.59
3.1.7 Regional legislation: California, United States
Legislative bill for the right to family unity. The Help Separated Families Act- HR6128 - is a 2012 bill introduced in the California legislature that seeks to keep immigrant families together and to ensure that migration status alone does not terminate migrants’ parental rights.60
3.1.8 Practice: Honduras
Ministry of Consular Protection: Within the scope of the program of the Ministry for Consular Protection, the following programmes are planned:
a) Assistance for the family members of migrants in procedures for requesting visas at different embassies; assistance for family members abroad with problems of chronic illness, violent accidents etc., as well as aiding the economically disadvantaged family members of Honduran migrants.
b) Legal accompaniment of underage children. Special treatment has been granted for accompanied or unaccompanied children that have been separated by the deportation or imprisonment of their parents, a situation that could put them into forced adoption.61
3.1.9 Civil society practice: Europe
The European Network of Migrant Women (ENoMW) has produced three short films illustrating the experiences of three migrant women affected by existing policies. The films highlight restrictions that prevent female migrant workers from reuniting with their children, barriers facing those on a spouse-dependent visa who want to leave a violent relationship, and finally, the difficulties faced by non-EU nationals who seek to join a partner in the EU.62
3.1.10 Court ruling: Inter American Court of Human Rights “Provisional Measures – Matter of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian-origin in the Dominican Republic regarding Dominican Republic (2000-present)
The Court required the Dominican Republic to: abstain from deporting or expelling some of the families; permit the immediate return to its territory of some of the beneficiaries; permit, within the shortest possible time, the family reunification of two of the families with underage children in the Dominican Republic.
3.1.11 Court Ruling: Argentina “Cribillero Juan Carlos v. Dirección Nacional de Migraciones”63
This case deals with a Peruvian migrant who was expelled from Argentina without consideration of the existence of his family. The Court indicated that the separation of a father from his children as a result of expulsion constitutes a violation of the right to protection of the family, and therefore ordered his return to Argentina.
3.1.12 Court Ruling: Spain “Tribunal Supremo Español. Recurso de Casación 5348/2009”64
Regarding the consular practice of re-examining and revoking favorable resolutions for family reunification, the Spanish High Tribunal stated that: the resolution by which temporary residence for family reunification is authorised is independently valid (and the requirements are completed by the same resolution that grants it), even though its efficacy and effects are subject to a visa being issued and obtained.
3.1.13 Court Ruling: European Court of Human Rights “Mubilanzila et al. v. Belgium (2006)”
On the detention of unaccompanied children, the ECtHR emphasized the extreme vulnerability of a migrant child due to her young age and the fact that she was an unaccompanied minor whose stay in Belgium was irregular. Among other things, the Court stated that for almost two months she was held in a facility that was designed for adults and was in no way adapted to the needs of a child. The girl was not even assigned a qualified person to provide her with educational or other assistance. Furthermore, the ECtHR noted that the girl’s detention contributed to significant delays in the process of reunification with her mother. Given that there was no threat that she would try to avoid checks by the Belgian authorities, her detention in a facility for adult foreigners staying irregularly served no purpose, and other measures could have been taken that would truly correspond to the interests of the child.
3.1.14 Court Ruling: European Court of Human Rights “Muskhadzhiyev and Others v. Belgium (2010)”
Regarding the detention of Chechen children, the Court stated that detention pending their removal was unlawful and their conditions of detention were unacceptable. The Court noted that the children had been detained for over a month in a closed center that was unprepared to receive children. The Court attached importance to the children’s worrisome state of health; they exhibited serious physical and psychosomatic symptoms as a consequence of trauma. The Court also found a violation due to the detention of the children in a closed centre for adults, under the same conditions as an adult person.
3.1.15 Court Ruling: European Court of Human Rights “Kanagaratnam and Others v. Belgium (December 2011)”
The Court ruled that a violation of Article 3 had taken place in relation to three Sri Lankan children of Tamil origin who had been held in a migration detention facility with their mother for four months in 2009. The ECtHR stated that, by placing them in a closed centre, the Belgian authorities had exposed the children to feelings of anxiety and inferiority and had risked compromising their development. Consequently, the situation experienced by the children had amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment, in violation of Article 3 of the Convention. The Court also found a violation of Article 5 §1 (right to liberty and security). By placing the children in a closed center designed for adult undocumented migrants, in conditions ill-suited to their extreme vulnerability as children, Belgian authorities had not sufficiently guaranteed the children’s right to liberty.
Include and apply the principle of family unity and reunification.
The principle of family unity should be applied by authorities at all times, and families should never be separated by State action or left separated by State inaction except when it is in the best interests of the child. In the case of irregular migrant parents, States should explore alternatives to deportation to ensure the right to family life of their children; e.g. granting a residence permit on the grounds of family unity and the best interests of the child. Family reunification policies of transit and destination countries should enable children left behind to join their parents (or parents to join their children) in the destination country, thereby avoiding irregular and unsafe channels. To implement these procedures, States can design and adopt mechanisms to ensure the fulfillment of Article 10 of the CRC regarding positive, humanitarian and expeditious attention to family reunification applications.
REGULARISATION AND THE PRINCIPLE OF FAMILY UNITY
4.1 PROMISING LEGISLATION AND PRACTICES ACROSS FIVE REGIONS
4.1.1 Court ruling: The Court of Justice of the European Union, “Gerardo Ruiz Zambrano v Office national de l'emploi (ONEM)”65
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) stated that Article 20 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) is to be interpreted as precluding a Member State from refusing a third-country national with dependent minor children who are European Union citizens, the right of residence in an EU Member State. It also cannot refuse to grant a work permit to that third-country national, because such decisions deprive their children of the substantive enjoyment of the rights attached to the status of European Union citizenship.
4.1.2 Court Ruling: The Court of Justice of the European Union “El Dridi v. Italy (April 2011)
Prohibiting the criminalisation of irregular migration, the Court ruled that Member States may not demand a custodial sentence to remedy the failure of coercive measures adopted to effect a forced removal. This refers to the custodial sentence provided for by the national legislation at issue in the main proceedings on the sole grounds that a third-country national continued to stay “illegally” in the territory of a Member State after an order to leave was issued to him and the period granted in that order had expired.
4.1.3 Court Ruling: European Court of Human Rights “Rodrigues Da Silva and Hoogkamer v. the Netherlands (Application No. 50435/99, 31 January 2006)
The Court granted an irregular migrant mother (of a Dutch citizen child) the right to regularise her status, while taking into consideration the right to respect for private and family life and the child’s best interests to remain in the Netherlands with her Dutch father.
4.1.4 Court Ruling: European Court of Human Rights “Osman v. Denmark (Application No. 38058/9, 14 June 2011)
The Court ruled that Danish authorities were in violation of Article 8 of the European Convention to Human Rights (the right to respect for private and family life) by denying a residence permit to a non-resident child who had spent many years residing in Denmark and whose family members were still residents. The Court awarded damages as it found that the best interests of the child had not been sufficiently taken into account, and indicated that her residence status should be reinstated.
4.1.5 Executive Order: United States, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
In June 2012, the Obama Administration issued an executive order to provide work permits to young migrants (no more than 30 years old) who entered the US before age 16, have lived in the country for at least five years, are in school, high-school graduates or military veterans in good standing, and have clean criminal records. This measure does not provide a permanent residence status, but grants a suspension of deportation proceedings and issues renewable temporary permits of residence.66 The Migration Policy Institute has estimated that as many as 1.76 million young undocumented migrants could be eligible.67
Promote regularization policies and ensure access to secure residence.
Regularisation policies can greatly contribute to migrants’ integration into host society, child development, and the protection of family life. These benefits also lead to maximising migrants’ contribution to overall human development in both sending and receiving societies. States should develop regularisation programmes that facilitate migrants’ integration and uphold children’s rights, including their right to family life. States should ensure, by law and in practice, regular and accessible channels for access to a residence permit, based on grounds such as family unity, labour relations and social integration.
ACCESS TO ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS AND THE PRINCIPLE OF FAMILY UNITY
5.1 PROMISING LEGISLATION AND PRACTICES ACROSS FIVE REGIONS
5.1.1Legislation and Practice: Moldova
National Action Plan for the Protection of Children Left Behind:68 The Governmental Commission on Children Left Without Parental Care as a result of migration, with the support of line ministries, drafted a National Action Plan to alleviate the negative impact of migration on these children. The Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family is accountable for the Plan’s overall coordination and supervision. The National Action Plan adopted for 2010-2011 addressed multiple aspects of the vulnerability of children left behind through the creation of social services for children at the community level, awareness-raising among the general public and potential migrants, and capacity-building for professionals working with children (teachers, psychologists, police, health workers, etc.) on the vulnerability of children left behind and protection of their rights. The Plan also envisaged the introduction of life-skills education in school curricula (not yet in place) and establishment of a monitoring and evaluation system to track the situation of children left behind. As of May 2012, the Ministry has been carrying out a census of children left behind, with support from partners. The results will be used to further strengthen the social protection system for these children.
5.1.2 Practice: Philippines
Philippines Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration (OWWA): In the Philippines, the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration manages a trust fund to support migrant workers and their families. It is pooled from a US$25 membership fee for Filipino migrants or their employers. Workers who contribute are eligible for a range of social services including insurance, healthcare, and family assistance loans. Furthermore, their children have access to education and training programs as well as scholarships towards undergraduate studies. Likewise, the ‘Tuloy-Aral’ or ‘Continuation of Education’ project helps cover the expenses of elementary and high school students in need by providing them with US$100 per year to pay for books, supplies, transportation, or other education costs.
5.1.3 NGO Practice: Philippines
Atikha Overseas Workers and Communities Initiative: The Atikha Overseas Workers and Communities Initiative offers livelihood training and economic opportunities to children and other relatives left behind to increase their self-reliance. The organisation also developed a manual that serves as a guide for primary and secondary school teachers in integrating migration issues into lesson plans and school activities, sensitising students to the sacrifices of their migrant parents, the values of education and savings, and the importance of maintaining good communication within the family unit. The Department of Education has included these modules in the curricula of three sending regions, and the good results shown by preliminary evaluations and informal assessments suggest that the initiative will eventually be scaled up.
5.1.4 NGO Practice: Philippines
ECMI : Building capacities of girls and boys left behind
In 2003 the Episcopal Commission of the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People (ECMI), a faith-based organisation, initiated the Sons and Daughters of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) Formation Programme (SDOFP) to strengthen family structures, affairs and relationships among migrants under the Comprehensive Overseas Filipino Workers Reintegration Programme (CORP). Originally implemented in one island group, SDOFP is now being carried out nationwide among partner schools. ECMI trains guidance counselors and/or teachers on ways to develop a Sons and Daughters Club at the school, impart leadership skills, and augment the productivity of children left behind. In 2008 ECMI launched an achievement program known as Gawad Anakor TOSDOSA Awards (the search for Ten Outstanding Sons and Daughters of OFW Student Achievers) to combat negative public perceptions of children left behind and encourage them to become active, responsible citizens. The initiative is being developed in high schools, where migrants’ children are recognised for excellence in social, scholastic and extracurricular performance.
Ensure migrant families’ access to economic, social, and cultural rights.
Deprivation of economic, social and cultural rights of migrant parents based on nationality or migration status impedes the fulfillment of their parental obligations towards their children’s right to an adequate standard of living. Likewise, such deprivation negatively impacts family life. States should ensure access to economic, social and cultural rights for all migrants, regardless of their migration status, and equal treatment for migrants should be mainstreamed into the design of social, childhood and family protection policies.
Right to Family Life in International Human Rights Law
Universal Declaration of Human Rights – Arts. 12 and 16
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – Arts. 17.1 23 and 24
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – Art. 12
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families - Art. 44.
African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights – Art. 18
American Convention on Human Rights – Art. 17
European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms – Arts. 8 and 12
CRC Articles that protect the right to family life
Harmonious relationship between the rights of children and responsible adults
Right to preserving family relations
Right to the integral protection of the family. Prohibition of family separation
Right to family re-unification
Right to private life for the child and the family
Shared respon-sibility of parents and States
Right to an adequate standard of living and material assistance from the State and responsible adults
Fundamental CRC principles
Principle of the best interest of the child
Right of the child to be heard. Participation
1 Another widely recognised right is the right to equality and non-discrimination, a key underlying principle of the entire human rights system, which reinforces and deepens protection of each and every right, including the right to family life.
2 In the Preamble to the CRC, States Parties affirm that: “convinced that the family, as the fundamental group of society and the natural environment for the growth and well-being of all its members and particularly children, should be afforded the necessary protection and assistance so that it can fully assume its responsibilities within the community.” Similarly, States Parties recognise that “the child, for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality, should grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding.”
3 See some examples in Appendix II. See also, in Appendix III, the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), Case C-34/09, 2011.
4 The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most widely ratified of all human rights treaties. Since its adoption in November 1989, 195 countries have ratified the CRC.
5 See UNICEF, Amicus Curiae submitted before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, UNICEF Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (TACRO), 17 February 2012 (http://corteidh.or.cr/soloc.cfm).
6 See OHCHR, Study of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on challenges and best practices in the implementation of the international framework for the protection of the rights of the child in the context of migration. A/HRC/15/29, 5th July 2010, § 24.
7 See Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Advisory Opinion OC-18/03 Juridical Condition and Rights of Undocumented Migrants, 17th September 2003.
8 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), article 12; International Pact on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, article 10. 1; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, article 17; American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, article V. Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human, article 15.
9 Committee on the Rights of the Child; General Comment No. 6 (2005) "Treatment of unaccompanied and Separated Children outside Their Country of Origin" Thirty-ninth session 17, May-3 June 2005, § 29 and 30: “States parties must protect the confidentiality of information received in relation to an unaccompanied or separated child, consistent with the obligation to protect the child’s rights, including the right to privacy (art. 16). This obligation applies in all settings, including health and social welfare. Care must be taken that information sought and legitimately shared for one purpose is not inappropriately used for another. Confidentiality concerns also involve respect for the rights of others. For example, in obtaining, sharing and preserving information collected o unaccompanied and separated children, particular care must be taken in order not to endanger the well-being of persons still within the child’s country of origin, especially the child’s family members. Furthermore, information relating to the whereabouts of the child shall only be withheld vis-à-vis the parents where required for the safety of the child or to otherwise secure the “best interests” of the child”.
10 Human Rights Council. Report of Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Mr. François Crépeau. A/HRC/20/24, April 2, 2012.
11 Seeking, Alejandra Lopez, Pace University. 'Alternatives to Detention' Unaccompanied Immigrant Children in the U.S.Immigration System. Digital, 2010.
12 Committee on the Rights of the Child, Final Observations: Australia, CRC/C/15/Add.268, October 20, 2005, § 62. Like several other countries, Mexico’s Immigration Law stipulates a system of automatic detention for unaccompanied children based on criteria of public order and security. Similarly, the complementary Mexican Law on Refugees and Protection states that children and adolescents that request recognition of their refugee status or the application of a protective measure must await the decision of the respective authorities while remaining in custody, as a general rule, leaving up to the discretion of the administrative authority whether an alternative measure will be applied. ‘Boat Ride to Detention. Adult and Child Migrants in Malta.’ 2012. p. 38 and ss."...Malta detains all age-disputed cases pending age determination, and applies a very low threshold for disputing the age of children. As a result, children may be detained for weeks or months, despite the availability of alternative facilities. During detention, children are detained with adults, without any accommodation for their young age, and with no access to school. Once determined to be children—and released to other accommodation—children do not receive adequate legal representation. Under international and European standards, unaccompanied children should never be detained for reasons related to irregular entry, and pending age determination the person claiming to be a child should be treated as such until the determination is complete." See in: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/malta0712ForUpload.pdf
13 For more information see: International Detention Coalition. Captured Childhood. Introducing a new model to ensure the rights and liberty of refugee, asylum seeker and irregular migrant children affected by immigration detention, 2012. www.idcoalition.org.
14 See in Annex II the decision by the European Court of Human Rights, Cases Popov v. France, 2012; and Kanagaratnam v. Belgium, 2011.
15 See more in: Women Refugee Commission, detention of families in the US, "Locking up Family Values: The Detention of Immigrant Families", 2007, page 30: “Many children expressed anger or frustration with their parents for leading them into detention and for being powerless or unwilling to help. Some children asked or cried for their parents to sign for deportation so that they could go home.”
16 See more in: Nando Sigona and Vanessa Hughes, "No Way Out, No Way In. Irregular migrant children and families in the UK “, ESRC Centre on Migration, Policy and Society, University of Oxford, 58 Banbury Road, OX2 6QS, Oxford, UK, May 2012, p.8. See also: Carolyn Hamilton, Kirsten Anderson, Ruth Barnes, and Kamena Dorling, Children’s Legal Centre, University of Essex and Child Protection Section, UNICEF, “Administrative detention of children: A global report" New York, 2011, pp. 59- 98.
17 See Human Rights Council, Report of Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Mr. Jorge Bustamante. A/HRC/11/7, 14 May 2009 § 62. Also, Report of Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Mr. François Crépeau. A/HRC/20/24, April 2, 2012. §40.
18 CRC Committee, Concluding Observations: Netherlands, CRC/C/NLD/CO/3, 27 March 2009, §67-68, http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/co/CRC-C-NLD-CO3.pdf
19 See in: European Court of Human Rights, Application no. 55597/09, 2011. Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights: “Mubilanzila Mayeka and Kaniki Mitunga v. Belgium” 13178/03, 12 October 2006, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/45d5cef72.html [accessed 18 September 2012]; and “A. v. the United Kingdom”, judgment of 23 September 1998, Reports 1998-VI, p. 2699, § 22. See too: Prof. Carolyn Hamilton, Kirsten Anderson, Ruth Barnes, Kamena Dorling, Children‟s Legal Centre, University of Essex and Child Protection Section, UNICEF,"Administrative detention of children: a global report" New York, 2011, page 90; High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay presented the annual report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on 2 March 2012. Ms Pillay focused on the rights of migrants, calling on Member States to explore alternatives to migration detention that do not violate refugees’ rights, especially those of children. The High Commissioner opposed the criminalization of irregular migration. Ms Pillay drew attention to the human rights violations experienced by migrants in the context of the Arab Spring, and their vulnerability:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=41442&Cr=Human+rights&Cr1=#.UFjaZa42Td
20 For more information, see Applied Research Center, Shattered Families. The Perilous Intersection of Immigration. Enforcement and the Child Welfare System. Racial Justice Through Media, Research and Activism, November 2011.
21 American Psychological Association, Immigration, Children and Families: What Professionals Need to Know, at: http://actagainstviolence.apa.org/immigration-info.html
22 CRC art. 9 clearly states that separation from parents is permissible only if the measure is taken in order to guarantee the best interests of the child.
23 UN Committee of Human Rights, Final Observations: Hong Kong, CCPR/C/HKG/CO/2, April 21, 2006, § 15.