Save the Children is warning that the latest efforts by both the EU and US to water down the language used to define the detention of migrant and refugee children is extremely worrisome and goes against international standards. Patrick Watt of Save the Children said that the UN refugee and migration summit was supposed to unite member states so they could find news solutions to arguably what has been the most pressing global challenge of our time. There are millions of people on the move, most of which are escaping violence and persecution. Instead of proposing solutions to help, members of the United Nations are arguing over existing rules including those that lie at the very heart of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Mr. Watt says that all members must support the principal of ending the detention of children on the basis of the parent’s migration status. Anything less would be a big step backwards.
Forced to flee
Of the 65 million people that have been forced to flee as a result of persecution and violence in 2015, more than half are children who are especially vulnerable to abuse and exploitation whilst they are on the move or stranded at borders. Save the Children has been arguing for UN member states represented at the Summit to recognise their obligations under international human rights treaties so that these children have their best interests protected. Save the Children wants member states to commit to ending the detention of children once and for all.
“The de facto detention of children – the likes of which we are seeing on the Greek Islands – must not become a new normal. World leaders must live up to their existing commitments to ensure that the most vulnerable people on the move, including children, are treated with dignity and have their rights respected,” said Mr. Watt.
Raising the bar
Mr. Watt adds that both the United States and the European Union should be raising the bar instead of seeking to lower it. Whilst there have been some welcome developments in other parts of the declaration, the results of the negotiation should be to provide and ambitious and meaningful solution of millions of refugee and migrant children. This means that a new global system must be developed that ensures governments share responsibility for protecting refugee and migrant children as well as their families.
