Nils Muižnieks, Commissioner for Human Rights, Council of Europe

I called on the Belgian authorities to refrain from resuming the practice of detaining migrant families with children.

"I called on the Belgian authorities to refrain from resuming the practice of detaining migrant families with children. I furthermore expressed the view, also shared by Belgian national human rights institutions, that a prohibition of adminstrative detention of all children on grounds of their or their parents' migratory status should be enshrined in Belgian law. [...] I believe that, even for a short period of time and in adequate material conditions, immigration detention is never in a child's best interests."

Nils Muižnieks, Commissioner for Human Rights, Council of Europe, Letter to Mr Theo Francken, Secetary of State for Migration and Asylum, 12 December 2016. 

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