A/HRC/RES/29/12
Taking into account the attention paid by the treaty bodies, including the Committee
on the Rights of the Child, to the treatment of unaccompanied and separated children
outside their country of origin and their enjoyment of human rights, including in its general
comment No. 6 (2005), as well as the general discussion of the Committee in 2012 on the
rights of all children in the context of international migration,
Expressing serious concern about the situation of vulnerability and risk faced by
migrants in transit and destination, in particular children, including adolescents, who are
unaccompanied or separated from their families, who are forced to flee or decide to leave
their homelands owing to multiple causes, and calling upon States of origin, transit and
destination to work together to find effective and sustainable solutions within a framework
of solidarity and regional and international cooperation,
Concerned by the fact that migrant children and adolescents who find themselves in
a vulnerable situation by attempting to cross international borders without the required
travel documents may be exposed to serious human rights violations and abuses that can
threaten their physical, emotional and psychological well-being, and may also be exposed
to crimes and human rights abuses committed by transnational criminal organizations or
gangs, including crimes such as theft, kidnapping, extortion, physical abuse, sale of persons
and trafficking in persons, including forced labour, and sexual abuse and exploitation,
Mindful of the fact that, in the fulfilment of their obligations to promote, protect and
respect human rights, States of origin, transit and destination can benefit from schemes of
international cooperation,
1.
Calls upon countries of origin, transit and destination to facilitate family
reunification, as appropriate, as an important objective in order to promote the welfare and
the best interests of migrant children, including adolescents, as applicable under national
law, due process and the relevant provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
and the Optional Protocols thereto, and to comply with the consular notification and access
obligations set forth in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations so that States may
provide child-friendly consular assistance, as appropriate, including legal assistance;
2.
Encourages States to continue to take into account the principle of the best
interests of the child as a primary consideration, and to promote, protect and respect their
human rights, bearing in mind their needs in the process of return to their countries of
origin;
3.
Encourages States of origin, transit and destination to continue to seek
greater cooperation and technical assistance with all relevant stakeholders in different areas
in order to identify jointly 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, while taking into account the need to
promote capacity-building activities;
4.
Requests the Advisory Committee to develop a research-based study on the
global issue of unaccompanied migrant children and adolescents and human rights, in
which it identifies areas, reasons and cases where this issue arises in the world, and the
ways in which human rights are threatened and violated, and makes recommendations for
the protection of the human rights of members of this population, and to submit it to the
Human Rights Council at its thirty-third session for its consideration;
5.
Calls upon all States to ensure that their immigration policies are consistent
with their obligations under international human rights law, and to promote the enjoyment
of human rights by all migrants without discrimination, including by taking steps to
increase cooperation and coordination at all levels to detect and suppress the smuggling of
migrants and trafficking in persons, in accordance with international law;
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