Legal basis in national law irregularly, the law also provides the possibility of detention “in adapted detention places” and “for as short as possible duration” (Article 74/9 (2)).94 In April 2016 the Belgian Council of State stated that detention centres must be adapted to suit the needs of children, annulling provisions of a 2014 Royal Decree that did not clearly ban the detention of families with children in regular facilities and thus did not conform to the Belgian Immigration Act.95 The practice of not detaining children for asylum or return purposes also prevails in Italy, Portugal and Spain. In Italy and Portugal, the authorities have a policy not to detain families with children, partly because appropriate facilities are not available. In Spain, according to Article 62 (4) of the Immigration Law, the placing of children in detention centres is not allowed, except when requested by the parents, under exceptional circumstances (see Section 5.2).96 In February 2015, the Spanish High Court declared Article 62-bis 1 i) of the Immigration Law inapplicable, dismissing the requirement that families can be detained only if adequate special areas are set up within the detention centres.97 Further four EU Member States have a general policy of not detaining asylum-seeking children, including when they are accompanied by their family members. In Germany, deprivation of liberty of applicants is only allowed in the context of the airport procedure – an accelerated asylum procedure applicable at BerlinSchönefeld, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg and Munich airports.98 In the Netherlands, the State Secretary for Security and Justice addressed a letter to the House of Representatives in 2014 endorsing the principle that children do not belong in detention.99 Subsequently, the Aliens Circular was revised: Part A, 94 Belgium Article 74/8(3) and 74/9 of the Immigration Act, as amended by the Law of 16 November 2011, (Loi sur l’accès au territoire, le séjour, l’établissement et l’éloignement des étrangers.) 95 Belgium, Council of State (Conseil d’État), Arrêt No. 234.577, 28 April 2016. 96 Spain, Immigration Law (Ley Orgánica 4/2000, de 11 de enero, sobre derechos y libertades de los extranjeros en España y su integración social), 11 January 2000. 97 Spain, High Court Ruling (Tribunal Supremo), Sentencia de 10 de febrero de 2015, del Pleno de la Sala Tercera del Tribunal Supremo, por la que se declara inaplicable el inciso “y existan en el centro módulos que garanticen la unidad e intimidad familiar” del artículo 62 bis 1.i) de la Ley Orgánica 4/2000, de 11 de enero; y se anulan diversos incisos de los artículos 7.3, segundo párrafo, 16.2.k), 21.3 y el apartado 2 del artículo 55 del Real Decreto 162/2014, de 14 de marzo, por el que se aprueba el Reglamento de funcionamiento y régimen interior de los Centros de Internamiento de Extranjeros’, 10 February 2015. 98 For a brief description of this procedure see the web page of the Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge. 99 Netherlands, State Secretary for Security and Justice (Staatssecretaris van Veiligheid en Justitie) (2014), ‘Invoering screening en nieuwe locatie voor kinderen’, letter to the House of House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer der Staten Generaal), 28 May 2014. para. 7.3 now instructs border guards to refer families and unaccompanied children who apply for asylum to a special unit of the Aliens Police in the Ter Apel application centre.100 In the Czech Republic, asylum-seeking children are exempt from detention whether they are accompanied or not.101 Similarly, whereas Cypriot legislation prohibits the detention of any applicants for the sole reason that they are seeking asylum, in practice this results in families with children not being detained.102 Promising practice Making child detention visible to promote alternatives In Cyprus the situation has improved since 2014. The Ombudsperson, the Commissioner for the Rights of the Child, NGOs and the CPT persistently raised the issue of immigration detention of children. In Cyprus’s 2015 response to the United Nations Committee against Torture (UNCAT) report of 2014, the authorities stated that, by means of a  Ministerial Committee, they had decided not to detain parents of children irregularly residing in Cyprus. Detention has been replaced with alternatives, such as reporting regularly to a police station, submitting their travel documents and/or a financial guarantee. A 2016 NGO report confirms that in practice children are no longer detained. Sources: Asylum Information Database (AIDA), Country report: Cyprus; Amnesty International (2014), ‘Cyprus: Abusive detention of migrants and asylum seekers flouts EU law’; Amnesty International (2012), Punishment without a crime: Detention of migrants and asylum seekers in Cyprus; Cyprus, Commissioner for the Rights of the Child (2014), ‘Position of the Commissioner for the Rights of the Child Leda Koursoumba regarding the first instance handling of unaccompanied minor: Findings from the investigation of complaints, from NGO consultations and from interviews with unaccompanied minors’ (Θέση της Επιτρόπου Προστασίας των Δικαιωμάτων του Παιδιού Λήδας Κουρσουμπά αναφορικά με τον πρωταρχικό χειρισμό ασυνόδευτων παιδιών: Αποτέλεσμα διερεύνησης παραπόνων, διαβούλευσης με ΜΚΟ και συνετεύξεων με ασυνόδευτα παιδιά) File No. G.E.P. 11.11.44.01, November 2014; Cyprus, Office of the Law Commissioner, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, ‘Follow up to concluding observations on the Fourth Periodic Report of Cyprus adopted on 21 May 2014’, Nicosia 18 May 2015; CPT, ‘Report to the Government of Cyprus on the visit to Cyprus carried out by European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) the from 23 September to 1 October 2013’, Ref CPT/Inf (2014) 31, Strasbourg, 9 December 2014, para. 32-36; ‘Intervention of the National Independent Human Rights Authority regarding the treatment of unaccompanied minors until their care is taken over by the state’ (Παρέμβαση Εθνικής Ανεξάρτητης Αρχής Ανθρωπίνων Δικαιωμάτων αναφορικά με τη μεταχείριση των ασυνόδευτων παιδιών μέχρι την ανάληψη της φροντίδας τους από το κράτος), Ref. 5/2013, 29 May 2014 100 Netherlands, Aliens Circular A (Vreemdelingencirculaire A), Para. A1/7.3. 101 Czech Republic, Asylum Act (Zákon o azylu), Article 46a(3). 102 Cyprus, Article 9ΣΤ(1) Refugee Law; Future Worlds Center (2016), Promoting and Establishing Alternatives to Immigration Detention in Cyprus, October 2016. 35