Accueil > Actualités MIE > The Committee on the Rights of the Child Condemns Spain’s Treatment of (...)
Publié le 28-06-2019
Source : European Council on Refugees and Exiles
Extracts :
« The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child condemned Spain for the violation of children’s rights in two cases concerning age assessment of unaccompanied children. The Committee denounced the lack of legal guarantees and the insufficient consideration of the documentation provided by the applicants and ordered the provision of legal representation during age assessment and the compensation of the applicants.
The first case involved J.A.B., a Cameroonian national, who arrived to Ceuta in 2016. (...)
The second case involved A.L., an Algerian national, who arrived to Almería, Spain by boat in 2017. (...)
The Committee recalled the fundamental importance of age assessments to ensure the best interests of the child are met. In cases of uncertainty, the individual must be given the benefit of the doubt. With regard to legal representation, the Committee held that legal guardians or representatives are an essential guarantee during the age assessment process and its denial constituted a violation of their right to be heard and Articles 3 and 12 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child.
The Committee also notes that the State party did not respect the identity of the applicant as they failed to analyse the validity of the documents provided and did not check the data with the authorities of the country of origin, a violation of article 8 of the Convention. It held that the State now had an obligation to avoid committing similar violations in the future, to ensure the age assessments of unaccompanied children are in conformity with the Convention and that the procedures take into account the documentation presented and that those affected receive legal representation. (...) »
Voir en ligne : https://www.ecre.org/the-committee-...