violence against children WORLD REPORT ON - CRIN

5Other children in StatecustodyRefugees, asylum seekersand migrantsChildren may flee their home countries for avariety of reasons including armed conflict,ethnic insurgency, persecution of their families,death or disappearance of their parents, orforced military recruitment. Others may moveacross borders in search of better economic andsocial opportunities, often without the necessarydocuments or in contravention of immigrationrules. Whether legal or illegal in status,many of these children find themselves in institutionswhere they are isolated from the community.Unaccompanied childrenWhile many refugee children are with theirparents or in the care of family members, asignificant number of asylum-seeking and refugeechildren are either separated from closefamily, or entirely unaccompanied. In 2004,countries such as Austria, Belgium, France,Italy and the UK each recorded between 1,000and 5,000 arrivals of asylum-seeking separatedchildren. 149 In 2005, concern about the vulnerabilitiesand losses of rights faced by unaccompaniedand separated asylum-seeking childrenled the Committee on the Rights of the Childto adopt a General Comment providing guidanceon the protection, care and proper treatmentof such children based on the CRC. 150Currently, only around one-third of Europeancountries have legal and practical provisionsfor the care and protection of unaccompaniedchildren. Such arrangements shouldideally include separate reception facilities, aprohibition on child detention, and officiallyappointed trained guardians. But the realityis that many centres are not equipped to meetchildren’s needs, and staff are not trained todeal with children, especially those who maybe suffering from trauma. This increases theirpotential exposure to violence. Significantnumbers of unaccompanied and separatedchildren disappear from reception facilities orduring the asylum procedure. 151 Some of thesedisappearances are reported as being related totrafficking.Groups working with asylum-seeking detaineeshave expressed concern that the level ofuncertainty about how long they are to bedetained, combined with fears about the consequencesof return, may exacerbate these children’srisk of self-harm. 152 This is a particularanxiety in the case of those who have survivedtorture or serious trauma in their country oforigin. Depression can lead to desperate outcomes.According to the Separated Childrenin Europe Programme, the placement of somechildren in residential centres “has gone on tolast years and has been described as ‘mentaltorture’, leading some children to feel thatthe only way they can end this suffering, totake some control of their life, is to commitsuicide.” 153Jail-like facilitiesAlthough children should never be detainedin relation to their immigration status, manyare held in secure facilities for long periods.201Violence against Children in care and justice institutions