The Assembly recalls that all Council of Europe member States
are parties to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the
Child and therefore must uphold the best interests of the child
as a primary consideration, affording children all the protection
and care necessary to their well-being. In this regard, member States
should ensure that:
4.1 the highest
standard of protection is provided to all refugee and migrant children,
regardless of their status;
4.2 reception conditions and care for child migrants and refugees
fulfil basic rights and needs, taking into account the special requirements
for the protection of children; on no account should children be placed
in detention;
4.3 refugee and migrant children are accommodated as far as
possible with their families; every effort should be made to reunite
separated refugee and migrant families in line with Article 22 of
the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child;
4.4 parents, family members and friends are given the necessary
information and means to contact child protection services or the
police when a child refugee or migrant goes missing; child refugees
and migrants should also be given the necessary information and
means to contact a child protection agency or the police where they
are in a position to do so. The police and child protection agencies
must be adequately trained in addressing the cases of missing child
refugees and migrants;
4.5 schools, reception centres and those responsible for accommodating
and caring for the needs of child refugees and migrants immediately
inform child protection agencies and the police if a child goes missing;
4.6 research into cases of disappearance of migrant and refugee
children is supported and promoted, and serves to inform policy
and practice in this area;
4.7 feedback from refugees and migrants, including children,
on the responses to the problem of missing refugee and migrant children
is taken into consideration, in ways that are appropriate, useful
and safe, in particular with the help of national human rights institutions
and civil society organisations active in this area. This should
not delay, impede or prejudice migration and refugee status procedures;
4.8 national and regional media, including the press, audiovisual
and social networks, are alerted to the situation concerning the
disappearance of refugee and migrant children and launch appropriate action
to raise awareness about disappearances and help find missing children,
while ensuring that information circulated does not interfere with
police procedures or with the individual right to privacy. The Parliamentary
Assembly should set an example by publishing, through its various
media resources, a database of good practices for preventing disappearances
and searching for missing children with a view to reunification
with their families;
4.9 international co-operation between the police and judicial
authorities is stepped up to avoid the disappearance of child refugees
and migrants, through Interpol, the Schengen Information System (SIS),
Europol and Eurojust as well as through mutual legal assistance.
Child refugees and migrants who go missing should be included in
Interpol’s Yellow Notices and be the subject of a notification in
the SIS;
4.10 civil society organisations helping to find missing children
are supported in their work, which should not be obstructed or misused.
Awareness-raising campaigns by these organisations and helplines,
such as that of Missing Children Europe should be supported by financial
and human resources. Provisions facilitating the activities of non-governmental
organisations working in the field of missing refugee and migrant
children should be stipulated in the national legislation of member
states.
4.11 adequate financial resources are made available for the
prevention of the disappearance of refugee and migrant children.