Unaccompanied Migrant Children and Adolescents and Human Rights

Urges States to give primary consideration at all times to the best interests of the child, particularly with regard to children in transit or crossing borders, and when formulating policies on integration, return or family reunification, to carry out individualized, comprehensive best-interest assessments to identify the protection needs of migrant children and adolescents, particularly unaccompanied and separated children, and to carry out early and prompt assessments of victims of violence, exploitation and abuse who may qualify for refugee status or other forms of protection;

Calls upon States to ensure appropriate, integrated and gender-sensitive child protection care and services for all unaccompanied and separated migrant children and adolescents starting from the time of their arrival, in accordance with relevant international legal frameworks, taking into account the principle of the best interests of the child and the special needs of unaccompanied migrant children and those separated from their families, to protect them against all forms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence and to work to provide for their health, education and psychosocial development in a manner that is age- and gender-sensitive and that ensures a continuum of protection throughout the migration cycle and across transnational borders;

Also calls upon States to promote and protect effectively the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all migrants, especially unaccompanied migrant children and adolescents, regardless of their migration status, and to address international migration through international, regional or bilateral cooperation and dialogue and a comprehensive and balanced approach, recognizing the roles and responsibilities of countries of origin, transit and destination in promoting and protecting the human rights of all migrants and avoiding approaches that might aggravate their vulnerability;

Encourages States to prevent the separation of migrant children and adolescents from their families, to establish effective systems in conformity with their international obligations and commitments, and to prioritize family reunification for unaccompanied or separated children with their parents, except when further separation is necessary in the best interests of the child, taking full account of the right of the child to express his or her views freely in matters that affect them and ensuring that applications by the child, or his or her parents, to enter or leave a country for the purpose of family reunification are dealt with in a positive, humane and expeditious manner and entail no adverse consequences for the applicants or family members;

Reminds States that the detention of a migrant child or adolescent on the basis of their migration status or that of their parents is seldom, if ever, in the best interests of the child, and also reminds them of their commitment to work towards ending this practice, and calls upon States to consider reviewing policies that criminalize cross-border movements and to adopt alternatives to detention for children that take into account the best interests of the child, as a primary consideration, and respect the human rights of migrant children and adolescents, including the right to preserve their identities and family relations and not to be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with their families;

Calls upon States of origin, transit and destination to find effective and timely responses to the needs of unaccompanied or separated children as soon as they are identified as such, including, where appropriate and feasible, their integration, voluntary and safe repatriation or resettlement, in keeping with the principles of due process, the best interests of the child and non-refoulement, and urges States to develop bilateral or multilateral agreements that standardize approaches for identifying and implementing sustainable solutions for unaccompanied or separated children, including a procedure for monitoring their return;

Encourages all States to prevent and eliminate discriminatory policies and legislation at all levels of government, including those that deny migrant children access to education and health care and other social services while taking into account the best interests of the child as a primary consideration in fostering the successful integration of migrant children into education and health-care systems and other social services and the removal of barriers to their education and health in host countries and countries of origin;

Calls upon all States to ensure that their immigration policies are consistent with their obligations under international law, including, as applicable, human rights and humanitarian law, and to promote the enjoyment of human rights by all migrants without discrimination, including by taking steps to increase cooperation and coordination at all levels to detect and to end serious human rights violations and abuses, in particular trafficking and smuggling of migrant children and other forms of abuse and exploitation;

Encourages States to take into consideration the present resolution in the development of the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration, and to consider specific measures to strengthen the rights of migrant children and adolescents, paying particular attention to the specific needs of unaccompanied and separated migrant children;

Requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, within the framework of the preparations for the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration and in accordance with General Assembly resolutions 71/1 and 71/280 of 6 April 2017, to provide inputs submitted to the Human Rights Council by the Office of the High Commissioner for the forthcoming stocktaking meeting and to engage with Members States and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for International Migration to help to identify, through a human rights-based approach, concrete measures and best practices to improve the human rights situation of unaccompanied migrant children and adolescents;

Invites the special procedures of the Human Rights Council, in accordance with their mandates, to continue to give due consideration to the situation of unaccompanied migrant children and adolescents and the impact of this issue on the full enjoyment of their human rights, and to continue to report thereon;