violence against children WORLD REPORT ON - CRIN

“I was tortured in prison and male inmates burnt mewith cigarettes because I refused to have sex with them”.Boy, 16, Indian Ocean subregion, 2006 IX202Violence against Children in care and justice institutionsFor example, in Australia, hundreds of girlsand boys seeking asylum have been held indetention centres for an average of 20 months.The prolonged detention had a significantlydetrimental impact on the mental and physicalhealth of some of these children. Some ofthe children held in detention suffered fromdepression, post-traumatic stress disorder, andanxiety disorders. Other children experiencedbed wetting, sleep walking and night terrors. 154Children were also exposed to unrest, protestsand violence that took place in some of thedetention centres. Some children in detentionalso sewed their lips together and committedother acts of self-harm. 155Asylum-seeking children were detained inimmigration centres or confined in internationalairports in several countries in 2004 and 2005,including the Bahamas, Botswana, LibyanArab Jamahiriya, Malaysia, Thailand, the USAand Europe. 156 Children may be detained withtheir family members for immigration-relatedoffences, without it being assessed if this is intheir best interests, and without examiningalternatives to detention. Release is often onlysecured when confirmation of resettlement toa third country of the minor or the family hasbeen obtained. Stateless children are at a particularrisk of facing long-term detention forlack of residence requirements. These circumstancesdo not necessarily entail violence, butmay leave children in especially vulnerable andexposed situations.Detention of migrant childrenStatistics on illegal migration are few and notreliable in view of the clandestine nature ofmigration channels, but major flows invariablyinclude children, including some who becomeunaccompanied or separated from close familyduring the migratory process. In Spain, almost1,400 unaccompanied and separated migrantchildren were taken in by the AndalucianAdministration in Southern Spain betweenJanuary and October 2005. 157 In Mexico, over4,000 unaccompanied children were returnedto their countries of origin in 2005 alone, mostof them to Guatemala. The return proceduresdo not include the necessary safeguards toguarantee the security and well-being of thesechildren.Concern over the treatment and care migrantchildren receive in the country of destination– as well as in their country of origin in thosecases where they are subsequently repatriated –has been growing. The ‘care’ of these childrentoo often involves unwarranted deprivation ofliberty, or placement in open facilities whereconditions are inappropriate. These childrenfrequently lack the guarantees and legal representationavailable to other children in thecountry concerned. 158 Detained children arefrequently housed in the same facilities as nonrelatedadults; they may be exposed to traumatisingexperiences and have inadequate accessto proper nutrition, health support and education.Some children detained for breaches ofimmigration regulations are held together withindividuals charged with criminal offences.Peer violence is also a risk. A study of migrantchildren from Northern Africa detained inSpanish centres found that many reportedextortion, theft, and physical abuse by larger,