and the Construction of Vulnerability - Child Trafficking

irrespective of the child’s or her or his parent’s or legal guardian’s race, colour, sex,
language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property,
disability, birth or any other status. With regard to economic, social and cultural
rights, states shall undertake measures of implementation to the maximum
extent of their available resources and, where needed, within the framework of international
cooperation.
In all decisions concerning migrating children who have experienced, or are at
risk of, exploitation – e.g. repatriation and family reunification – the primary CRC
principle of the Best Interest of the child must be duly considered. In deciding the
Best Interest of the child, the three other guiding principles should be taken into
account. In practice this means that in cases concerning children who are non-citizens
the line of reasoning in deciding their best interest ought not to deviate negatively
from that applied to children who are citizens. 128
There are a number of ways in which migration policies and controls currently
conflict with these principles.
6.3.1 Detention
Evidence on the detention of children in immigration processing centres in Europe
gives much cause for concern, for it apparently contravenes both UN and national
children’s rights legislation. 129 Detention centres are unsuitable for children. Inadequate
resources are available to care for detained children, and detention centres have
not been designed with the best interests of children in mind. In fact, there is much
to suggest that the general environment inside detention centres is unhealthy for
children. There have been reports of police violence against Afghan migrants in
detention, including attacks against 17 children. 130 In Brussels, psychologists who
visited a detention centre found 13 children who were not attending school and were
enclosed in the building for 22 hours a day. 131 In Malta by the end of 2004, 800 people
including children were held in deportation centres run by armed guards and
police. 132 Children die in detention across Europe. Cases have been documented of
children dying after lack of medical treatment, of dying in fires, and of committing
suicide. 133
Access to detention centres in Europe is notoriously difficult, which means that
service-providers are often unable to enter them to provide for children’s health care,
educational and other needs. It also means that it is extremely difficult to monitor
the experience of children held therein. Such evidence as is available provides little
reassurance that their rights are protected. Human Rights Watch (HRW) found children
detained for long periods of time in the United States. They were not informed
of the process they were involved in, nor of what would happen to them in the
128. see Rozzi, 2002
129. Refugee Council, 2003
130. Amnesty International, 2005
131. Feteke, 2000
132. Amnesty International, 2005
133. Vertaik, 2005; Slodnjak, Kos and Yule, 2002; IRR, 2006
Child Migration and the Construction of Vulnerability
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