European legal and policy framework on immigration detention of children These are complemented by several non-binding documents, such as general comments of the treaty bodies of the UN conventions, UN General Assembly resolutions,55 reports by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention,56 conclusions of the Executive Committee of the Programme of the UNHCR,57 and the UNHCR guidelines.58 These documents describe what the obligations deriving from human rights and refugee law are, providing useful guidance to states on how to apply rights and principles in practice. 2.2. Specific provisions for children Children are protected against arbitrary detention not only by the general safeguards applicable to adults, but also by additional measures specifically designed to safeguard their specific needs as vulnerable persons. These largely derive from the principle of the best interests of the child, the right of the child to development and the right to respect for family life. In addition, there are special safeguards that apply only to unaccompanied children. Unaccompanied children are particularly vulnerable and, therefore, entitled to special protection. As regards deprivation of liberty, unaccompanied children enjoy additional safeguards, including procedural ones, as Chapter 5 highlights. In line with the best interests of the child, every child deprived of parental care must have a legal guardian.59 Although there is no legal norm in human rights or EU law explicitly prohibiting immigration detention of children, there is an increasing consensus among international organisations, treaty bodies and other human rights protection mechanism, in considering that immigration detention of children is in contradiction with the duty to provide care imposed by the CRC. As international human rights law is evolving, an increasing gap 55 See, for example, UN, General Assembly, Resolution 43/173, Body of Principles for the Protection of all persons under any forms of detention or imprisonment, 9 December 1988, A/RES/43/173. 56 See, for example, the UN, Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, 10 January 2008, A/HRC/7/4; Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, 16 February 2009, A/HRC/10/21; or Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, 18 January 2010, A/ HRC/13/30. 57 Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme (1986), Conclusions on International Protection: Detention of Refugees and Asylum-Seekers No. 44 (XXXVII), 13 October 1986, No. 44 (XXXVII). 58 UNHCR, Guidelines on the Applicable Criteria and Standards relating to the Detention of Asylum-Seekers and Alternatives to Detention, 2012. 59 UN, Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 6 (2005): Treatment of Unaccompanied and Separated Children Outside their Country of Origin, 1 September 2005, CRC/GC/2005/6, para. 21. 28 is emerging between EU law and the way international human rights law is interpreted. 2.2.1. EU law EU law imposes significant limitations on the detention of children for immigration-related purposes, but does not prohibit it. As of April  2017, there has been no CJEU case law on the detention of migrant children. The Reception Conditions Directive (Article 11) and the Return Directive (Articles 16–17) both include children in their lists of vulnerable persons.60 Both directives include provisions that require detailed attention to be paid to the particular situation of child migrants when they are detained.61 Ø The Reception Conditions Directive and the Return Directive both emphasise that children are to be detained only as a  last resort and only if less coercive measures cannot be applied effectively. Such detention must be for the shortest period of time possible62 and, in the asylum context, all efforts must be made to release those detained and to place them in suitable accommodation.63 Concerning unaccompanied children, in the asylum context, Article  11  (3) of the Reception Conditions Directive does not completely prohibit the detention of unaccompanied children applying for asylum, but allows it only in exceptional circumstances and if they are detained separately from adults, and never in prison accommodation.64 However, in practice, detention of unaccompanied children seeking asylum at airports or other borders is not uncommon. The border procedures, as regulated under the Asylum Procedures Directive (Article 43) and the Reception Conditions Directive (Article 8 (3) (c)), permit the detention of an asylum applicant at the border in order to decide on the admissibility or the substance of an asylum claim. This accelerated asylum procedure entails deprivation of liberty at the border. When applicants come from a “safe country of origin”, unaccompanied children are not exempted from this.65 60 Reception Conditions Directive, Article 21; Return Directive, Article 3 (9). 61 Reception Conditions Directive, Article 11; Return Directive, Articles 16 (3) and 17. 62 Reception Conditions Directive, Article 11 (2); Return Directive, Article 17 (1). 63 Reception Conditions Directive, Article 11 (2). 64 Reception Conditions Directive, Article 11 (3). 65 See Asylum Procedures Directive, Article 31 (8).