Human Rights Council adopts resolution on migration and children

1 October 2009

 

In a resolution on Human rights of migrants: migration and the human rights of the child (A/HRC/12/L.16), adopted without a vote as orally revised, the Council calls upon States to promote and protect effectively the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all migrants, especially those of children, regardless of their status, in conformity with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the international instruments to which they are party, and therefore: calls upon States to establish or strengthen policies and programmes aimed at addressing the situation of children in the context of migration that have a human rights-based approach and are based on general principles, such as the best interests of the child, non-discrimination, participation and survival and development; also calls upon States of origin to take appropriate measures to promote and protect effectively the rights of children who are left behind in their country of origin by migrating family members; further calls upon States to protect the human rights of children in the context of migration, and therefore: calls upon States parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the supplementing protocols thereto, namely, the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, to implement them fully, and calls upon States that have not yet ratified or acceded to them to consider doing so as a matter of priority; requests all States to take concrete measures to prevent the violation of the human rights of migrant children while in transit, and to train public officials to detect and treat them respectfully, in a sensitive and age-appropriate manner and in accordance with their international obligations; calls upon States to ensure that migrant children, especially those who are unaccompanied and those who are victims of violence, exploitation, persecution and conflict, receive special protection and assistance, in accordance with their international obligations; calls upon States of destination to protect effectively the human rights of children in the context of migration, without discrimination of any kind; and also requests the Office of the High Commissioner to prepare a study on challenges and best practices in the implementation of the international framework for the protection of the rights of the child in the context of migration, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, including States, regional organizations, civil society organizations and national human rights institutions, and requests that the study be available on the website of the Office prior to the fifteenth session of the Council, and to disseminate it to all relevant international forums.