No child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time. Convention on the Rights of the Child, article 37(b)
Detention centers rarely look different than prison, and for a child the effects of spending time in such facilities can be detrimental. The complex nature of seeking asylum often leaves children and their parents, often single mothers, in limbo for weeks and sometimes more than a month. The effect that the feeling of isolation and on any person can be extremely hard to handle, but for a child isolation is mixed with fear and confusion, as their is no way to clearly explain that they have done nothing wrong to deserve the restrictions and lock-up they now face.
Holding child detainees in immigration detention centers is of growing concern, and now the subject of much debate on both sides of the water. Just last week grave concern was raised in Brittan about Yarl's Wood, as many children have been being held at the facility for more than four weeks. The British government admits that detaining children is not ideal, however they see it as the only way. The Minister of Immigration, Liam Bryne, went so far as to place a majority of the blame on the parents, saying the lengthy time in detentions was due to parents stalling the deportation process. However, for the parents and children looking out of locked doors in Yarl's Wood the view is quite different. One mother of two, who has been detained twice, said:
“The Children found it very upsetting. They kept on asking me if we are in a prison and whether we had committed any crime. They still have nightmares, they don't sleep, they think about detention.” (BBC: Young are too Long in Yarl's Wood)
In the United States Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services have been conducting interviews and visits with families who are being held in a detention centers in Texas. The two groups claim that based on their findings the center in Hutto, Texas should be shut down, as children are living in ‘jail-like conditions’, which in the Texas facility is exactly that, a jail! The groups also found that children where not receiving adequate education, if a child is over five they are separated from their parents at bedtime, threats to separate families where used on both children and parents. These conditions are obviously detrimental to the welfare of children and serve little purpose in adding the immigration progress. Both groups recommended that that families holding no criminal or security threat be released, and alternatives such as parole, electronic bracelets and shelters run by nonprofit groups, be used in replace of penal facilities. “The Homeland Security Department defended the centers as a workable solution to the problem of illegal immigrants being released, only to disappear while awaiting hearings.” (Group Seek Shutdown of Immigration Center) That said it is presumptuous of the government to assume all will run, and surely the suggested use of ankle bracelets and a house arrest situation would suit all concerns of flight risk, while allowing children a sense of normality in their daily lives.
In the report, The Detention of Children in Member States' Migration Control and Determination Processes, the authors looked at the increasing use placing children in detention centers by EU member states. Recommendations in the report included The report concluded that: immigrant minors rights be monitored by the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) , statistics on the detention of minors be composed by all states for report to the FRA on an annual basis, a report be produced annually highlighting each countries when detaining children in regard to the mentioned recommendations, the placement of health care in all detention centers, legal representation for all children before detention, an automatic right for independent judicial review for all children regarding their detention, the use and adherence of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and for all member states to use "detention only as a last resort'.
Australia has been in the spotlight, regarding the detaining of children in facilities which have been seen as inadequate and prison like. Concerns have been raised publicly for a number of years, especially over the use of facilities that are mandatory for all asylum seekers, including children, that are deemed by many, as worse than the prisons of the country. The detention of children in Australia is of serious concern, as children do not receive an adequate education, are at risk for mental illness and abuse. In the article, The impact of detention on the mental health of detainees in immigration detention, and the implications for failing to deliver adequate Mental Health Services: Who Cares?, Claire O’Connor researches the mental health effects that are caused by such prison like conditions for asylum seekers, and the governments failure to recognize, treat and prevent these grave health concerns.
The case of unaccompanied children is far more difficult than that of children detained with their families, as children who seek asylum independently face a far more difficult time in obtaining assistance. Children who are alone are also at a greater risk for abuse and often disregarded as nothing more than runaways or delinquents, their rights are then seen as something secondary to their unknown crimes. The Harvard Review of Latin America published an article, Children Seeking Asylum, highlights the grave concerns that have emerged in the immigration and deportation process in a post 911 world, including an increase in children applying for asylum independently. “In the U.S. separated children who seek asylum are regularly and routinely detained, often for months on end. A third of the 5000 children detained each year are locked up in secure jails, alongside juveniles convicted of criminal offenses; they are subjected to handcuffing and shackling, and other intrusive and punitive measures… Refugee advocates report that children seeking asylum are used as baits to find, detain and eventually deport undocumented parents already in the country.” The article also highlights how many children are detained, and many times even deported, due to their parents illegal status, even though they are US citizens.
The use of detention centers for children appears to be a clear violation to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, as the best interest of the child are not being met. Therefore we must take efforts around the globe to see that new regulations, procedures and facilities are established, for all detainees, especially children. While the process of asylum is underway, a child should never be denied his or her human rights.
CHILDREN CONFINED- Immigrant Detention at Hutto
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Links:
Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children
Lutheran Immigrant and Refugee Service
Immigrant Detention and Human Rights
Chill Out: Children out of Detention
