Alternatives to the immigration detention of children

Please find below and attached an invitation to the international launch of the campaign to end the immigration detention of children to be held next week in Geneva during the UN Human Rights Council's 19th Session.

Background information

Refugee, asylum seeker and migrant children simply do not belong in detention. However research shows that child detention is a growing problem and a major protection gap worldwide. The International Detention Coalition (IDC) will launch a global campaign to end the immigration detention of children at the UN Human Rights Council in March this year as well as in a number of countries. We need your support to build and put pressure on governments to start using child friendly procedures, or for those that already do, we need to ask them to share good practices with others.

The campaign to end child detention will be open to anyone supporting our position, as laid out in a policy document on child detention based on research in five continents wherein almost 80 formerly detained children were interviewed. The central argument not to detain children, their families and unaccompanied or separated minors is based on three principles:

1. Undocumented child migrants are, first and foremost, children.

2. The best interests of the child must be a primary consideration in any action taken in relation to the child.

3. The liberty of the child is a fundamental human right.

This campaign then is about child rights but equally about human rights and refugee rights. This campaign focuses specifically on children detained for immigration purposes, including child refugees, asylum seekers and irregular migrants, however the IDC vision of alternatives to detention is far broader. You can read more about why and how immigration detention should only be used as a very last resort in the IDC handbook “There are alternatives” (www.idcoalition.org/cap).

We are looking for organisations to support our campaign in a number of ways.

• The IDC will organise a side event at the UN Human Rights Council on the 21st of March 2012 to present the child focused research at a panel discussion on child detention. Also on that day, the official campaign film clip and website will be launched publicly and a number of countries will engage media with formerly detained children or by other means. Let us know if you can help.

• We also need help with collecting more written or recorded stories, data about child detention or good practices in various countries, campaign representatives at regional and international forums and more.

• We are looking for partners who are willing to endorse the campaign with their ongoing national or international work or directly participate in campaign activities. The alliance will be broader than just IDC members and open to everyone who can adhere to our position.

For details on how your organisation can endorse this critical campaign, see the attachment.