Independent UN experts have called on European Union members to ban the detention of migrant children as they prepare to implement the newly adopted Migration and Asylum Pact.
The UN experts urged the European Commission to establish specific guidelines for receiving and caring for children that focus on their rights.
In a press statement, the experts stated that EU member states should explicitly prohibit the detention of migrant children in their national legislation in the absence of a unified regional ban, highlighting the need to ultimately put an end to this practice for all other migrants.
They stressed that detaining children due to their or their parents’ migrant status “does not serve the child’s best interests and always constitutes a violation of their rights,” according to the United Nations News website.
The experts warned of the danger of adult migrant detention becoming a common practice at the EU’s external borders, which could make EU migration management regressive and concerning.
The independent experts called on the European Union and its members to expand and diversify legal migration pathways and resettlement to prevent and address risks faced by refugees and migrants, including human trafficking and other serious human rights violations.
The EU’s Migration and Asylum Pact is expected to come into effect in 2026 after being adopted by the European Parliament, pending approval by the European Council.
