The Council of Europe has published a new guide for EU parliamentarians when visiting places where children are deprived of liberty as a result of immigration procedures.

“In Council of Europe member states, thousands of children wake up in immigration detention every day,” the guide’s introduction reads. “The situation of these children is often out of sight and out of mind of governments, lawmakers and the general public. 

“The only way to bring immigration detention of children to an end is for policymakers to be fully aware and take action to change their policies and practices.”

The guide aims to inform parliamentarians about the effects of immigration detention on children “in order to become effective advocates for the end of this practice. Visits by parliamentarians can also have important deterrent effects and reduce human rights violations in places of detention.”

The guide is available as a free download at tinyurl.com/008918GBR.

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