Opinion | Doc. 12751 | 05 October 2011
Undocumented migrant children in an irregular situation: a real cause for concern
Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee
A. Conclusions of the committee
(open)The committee would like to compliment Mr Pedro Agramunt Font de Mora on the very comprehensive report that he prepared on behalf of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population.
Nonetheless, the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee would like to suggest a few amendments to the text, to ensure that the particular situation of separated children be fully taken into account.
B. Proposed amendments to the draft recommendation
(open)Amendment A (to the draft recommendation)
In paragraph 1, replace the first sentence with the following sentence:
“A child is first and foremost a child, and only then a migrant.”
Amendment B (to the draft recommendation)
In paragraph 1, second sentence, after the words “the best interest of the child”, insert the following words:
“as stipulated by Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,”
Amendment C (to the draft recommendation)
At the beginning of paragraph 3, add the following new sentence:
“The Assembly underlines that undocumented migrant children should benefit from the right to social security, if necessary, and an adequate standard of living, as stipulated by paragraphs 9 and 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.”
Amendment D (to the draft recommendation)
In paragraph 4, second sentence, after the words “They may be with parents or family,”, add the following words:
“they may be unaccompanied,”
Amendment E (to the draft recommendation)
In paragraph 4, delete the last sentence.
Amendment F (to the draft recommendation)
After paragraph 5, add the following new paragraph:
“Undocumented children who are separated from their parents (either because the parents do not accompany them or cannot take care of them) need particular protection and should be provided with a legal guardian. They should also receive continuous and reliable support beyond the age of majority, thus avoiding unnecessary psychological pressure caused by uncertainty about their future, which may otherwise already affect their development at an early age and deprive them of their right to development as protected by Article 6 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
Amendment G (to the draft recommendation)
In paragraph 7.4.4, after the words “in separate facilities from adults”, insert the following words:
“or in facilities meant to accommodate children with their parents or other family members”
Amendment H (to the draft recommendation)
After paragraph 8.1.2, add the following new sub-paragraph:
“as already suggested by the Assembly in Recommendation 1969 (2011) on unaccompanied children in Europe: issues of arrival, stay and return, set up a working group to draw up Council of Europe guiding principles on the protection of unaccompanied children in the form of a new recommendation of the Committee of Ministers, which would draw upon the Council of Europe 'Life projects for unaccompanied minors' as well as recent work undertaken by the European Commission on 'Core Standards for guardians of separated children in Europe';”