Migrant Children and Adolescents

A/RES/69/187View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 68bHuman rights questions, including alternative approaches for improving the effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, published in 2014.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Extracted automatically from each entity’s budget submission.

What subjects does this mandate have?

4 topics

Adolescents Child Migrants Migration Policy Rights of the Child

What does this mandate say?

19 operative paragraphs

Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General on the promotion and protection of human rights, including ways and means to promote the human rights of migrants, and notes the recommended principles and guidelines on human rights at international borders prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights referenced therein;

Calls upon countries of origin, transit and destination to facilitate family reunification as an important objective in order to promote the welfare and the best interest of migrant children, including adolescents, as applicable under national law, due process and the relevant provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the ChildError: Reference source not found and the Optional Protocols thereto, and to comply with the consular notification and access obligations set forth in the Vienna Convention on Consular RelationsError: Reference source not found so that States may provide child-friendly consular assistance, as appropriate, including legal assistance;

Underlines that children, including adolescents, should not be subject to arbitrary arrest or detention based solely on their migration status and that the deprivation of liberty of migrant children and adolescents should be a measure of last resort, under conditions that respect the human rights of each child and in a manner that takes into account, as a primary consideration, the best interest of the child;

Calls upon States, in accordance with their national laws and their obligations under the relevant international instruments in this field, to promote and protect the rights of every child to be registered immediately after birth, to have a name from birth, to acquire a nationality and, as far as possible, to know and be cared for by his or her parents, in particular where the child would otherwise be stateless;

Reaffirms the need to effectively promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all migrant children, including adolescents, regardless of their migration status, and to address international migration through international, regional or bilateral cooperation and dialogue and through a comprehensive and balanced approach, recognizing the roles and responsibilities of countries of origin, transit and destination in promoting and protecting the human rights of migrant children, including adolescents, and avoiding approaches that might aggravate their vulnerability;

Calls upon States, the international community and other relevant stakeholders to address the irregular migration of children, including adolescents, from a human rights and a humanitarian perspective, taking into account the principle of the best interest of the child while promoting and protecting their human rights and fundamental freedoms, and calls upon States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child to adopt measures to give effect to the rights enshrined therein;

Urges all States to intensify cooperation with relevant stakeholders in different areas in order to jointly identify positive alternatives to reduce, mitigate and eliminate the causes and structural factors that lead to irregular migration, so as to prevent minors from feeling compelled to migrate from their communities;

Encourages all States to address the irregular migration of children, including adolescents, as a multicausal phenomenon, giving priority at all times to the personal safety and physical, emotional and psychological integrity of migrant children, including adolescents, keeping in mind the different needs of boys and girls and adolescent women and men in these situations;

Recognizes the importance of coordinating efforts among countries of origin, transit and destination, while also recognizing their roles and their responsibilities to address the irregular migration of unaccompanied children, including adolescents, and to safeguard their human rights, with due consideration for the protection of the best interest of the child;

Encourages States to protect and provide assistance to migrant children, including adolescents, within their jurisdiction, including victims of national and transnational organized crime, including through the implementation of gender-responsive programmes and policies that provide for protection and access to medical, psychosocial and legal assistance, as necessary, and urges them to prosecute perpetrators and abusers;

Recognizes the need for international cooperation to address, in a holistic and comprehensive manner, the challenges of irregular migration of children, including adolescents, so as to ensure safe, orderly and regular migration, with full respect for human rights;

Requests States and all relevant stakeholders to strengthen cooperation mechanisms that foster joint cooperation, dialogue and consensus at all times in order to promote migration policies and practices based on respect for human rights, sustainable development, gender equality and multiculturalism, recognizing the interdependent roles of the international community, State institutions and civil society;

Underlines that the principle of the best interest of the child should guide legislation, policies and practices relating to children, regardless of their status, including in the context of migration, and calls upon States to carry out individualized, comprehensive assessments of the status and protection needs of migrant children, including adolescents, as well as to carry out early and prompt assessments of victims of violence who may qualify for refugee status or other forms of protection;

Calls upon States to recognize that human mobility has become an integral part of the current social, economic and environmental situation, recognizes, in the process of elaborating future sustainable development goals, the importance of considering the reality of migration and its multiple direct impacts on the development prospects of migrants, their families and communities and on the development of countries of origin and destination, and encourages the international community to work so that aspects related to children and to migration being considered in the elaboration of the post-2015 development agenda can also be applicable in the case of accompanied and unaccompanied migrant children;

Encourages States to establish effective safeguards, where applicable, between public service providers, such as providers of child services and other social services, and immigration enforcement authorities in order to better ensure the human rights of migrant children, including adolescents;

Calls upon States to strengthen their public policies and programmes, especially in the social and economic fields, aimed at the most vulnerable sectors of the population in order to help reduce irregular migration push factors, and in this regard calls upon States and all other relevant stakeholders to join these efforts in a systematic way, promoting investment and economic exchange, as well as cooperation, at all levels;

Also calls upon States to combat xenophobia, racism and discrimination of any kind against migrants, specifically children, including adolescents, and further calls upon States to take appropriate measures to prevent, investigate and punish all human rights violations and abuses experienced by migrants within their territory and to take appropriate steps to help facilitate such measures in response to abuses outside their territory, in cooperation with other States and all other relevant stakeholders, according to their international commitments and their national legislation;

Requests the Secretary-General to continue to report on the situation of accompanied and unaccompanied migrant children, including adolescents, and to include information on the implementation of the present resolution in his report on the protection of migrants requested for its seventieth session;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

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