We are delighted that the National Council has adopted the popular initiative “Stop administrative detention for children!”. Many thanks to all National Councillors who voted in favor of the bill! In doing so, the Grand Chamber has underlined the Confederation’s obligation to respect children’s rights. The proposal from the canton of Geneva calls on the legislator to ban so-called administrative detention in deportation proceedings for migrant minors. We have been campaigning for this for a long time.
It could hardly have been closer: after a tie of 95 votes in favor and 95 against, the National Council followed a procedural motion and voted a second time on the Geneva initiative. Thanks to a narrow majority and several abstentions in the second vote, the “Stop administrative detention of children!” initiative is now one step further. We would like to thank the members of the National Council who voted in favor of children’s rights in Switzerland.
We are also pleased with the result because the preliminary committee had rejected the bill. The Council of States, which first discussed the matter last year, did not give its approval either. This is despite the fact that administrative detention of minors clearly violates the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Children are harmed in prison
Switzerland places children in so-called administrative detention because migration law provisions are to be enforced against them or their parents. However, international provisions and rulings such as those of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child stipulate that states must avoid this form of detention.
The majority – around 85% – of children who spend time in prison suffer irreversible psychological damage. Especially because children are already in difficult life situations and vulnerable in their situation as migrants. That is why we are calling for a ban on administrative detention for minors and instead for solutions with non-custodial measures.
This is the only way to ensure that minors are treated as children and that their rights are protected in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. They are entitled to this protection regardless of their migration status.
Global problem, Switzerland must be a role model
Several million children around the world are in administrative detention. Children are also detained in the EU and Switzerland. In 2016, 14 EU countries administratively detained around 180 minors from the migration sector. There are no exact figures for Switzerland. However, the data indicates that 83 children were held in administrative detention and 35 children were detained for a short time between 2015 and 2017.
The National Council has now laid the first foundation stone for a nationwide ban on this practice. The matter now goes back to the Council of States. We demand that it revises its decision from last year and adopts the initiative. There is no reason to retain administrative detention for minors, as the alternatives are not only more child-friendly but also more cost-effective and efficient.
We are sticking to our demands internationally and in Switzerland:
- Administrative detention for children in the area of migration (accompanied or unaccompanied) must be abolished. It is never in the best interests of the child.
- We demand more and more precise data on the administrative detention of minors. This is the only way to analyze the situation and take measures to remedy it.
- Alternatives to the administrative detention of minors must be defined and implemented.
- In the interests of the child, parents of underage children must not be detained on the basis of migration law provisions and families separated as a result. We call for alternative measuresto the detention of prevent the detention of children.
Read our position paper (PDF) and the article “Stop administrative detention for children!”
Photo: terre des hommes schweiz / Annette Mokler
