European legal and policy framework on immigration detention of children Conclusion The right of children to protection and care and the principle of the best interests of the child are the starting points when examining deprivation of liberty of children. As noted by the European Commission in its 2017 Communication on the protection of children in migration, 48 in some instances, children have been accommodated in closed facilities due to a shortage of suitable alternative reception facilities. Prompt identification of children is needed to trigger the special protection to which children are entitled. FRA opinion 1 To promote children’s right to protection and care, the EU  and its Member States should develop credible and effective systems that would make it unnecessary to detain children for asylum or return purposes, regardless of whether they are in the EU  alone or with their families. This could include building on, for example, case management, alternative housing, counselling and coaching. EU  Member States should use age assessments only where there are grounds for serious doubt about an individual’s age. Age assessment procedures should take into account children’s rights. Independent experts, familiar with the respective child’s cultural background and fully respecting the child’s dignity, should undertake in a  gender-appropriate manner age assessments. Recognising that age assessments cannot be precise, in cases of doubt, authorities should treat the person as a  child. They should also permit appeals against age assessment decisions. The forthcoming European Asylum Support Office (EASO) guidance should provide further advice to EU  Member States on how to apply these considerations in practice. 48 European Commission, The protection of children in migration, COM/2017/0211 final, 12 April 2014, point 4. 24