CAT/C/NLD/CO/5-6 (b) Avoid, wherever possible, the accumulation of administrative and penal detention, in excess of the absolute time limit of 18 months of detention of migrants under migration law. 16. The Committee further notes with concern that the legal regime in alien detention centres in not different from the legal regime in penal detention centres. The reports received by the Committee with regard to the confinement in cell for 16 hours, the absence of day-activities, the use of isolation cells, handcuffs and strip searches of aliens detained under migration law who await expulsion to their home country have been of particular concern (arts. 11 and 16). The Committee urges the State party to ensure that the legal regime of alien detention is suitable for its purpose and that it differs from the regime of penal detention. The State party is also urged to use alien detention as a last resort and where necessary, for as short period as possible and without excessive restrictions, and to effectively establish and apply alternatives to such detention. Unaccompanied children asylum seekers and children in detention 17. The Committee notes the State party’s information that unaccompanied children asylum-seekers continue to be placed in detention centres in the European part of the Kingdom if there is doubt about their age. The Committee is also concerned about the reports by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture regarding families with children, who await expulsion, being detained longer than the maximum limit of 28 days (arts. 3 and 11). The Committee recommends that the State party: (a) Verify the age of an unaccompanied child, if uncertain, before placing the child in detention. Such detention should be used as a last resort; (b) Take alternative measures to avoid detention of children or their separation from their families; (c) Ensure that unaccompanied minors can enjoy the rights guaranteed by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which the Kingdom of the Netherlands is a party. Forced removals 18. The Committee notes the State party’s clarifications of the figures on removals and forced returns of foreign nationals. Out of the total number of removals in the recent years amounting to about 20.000 per year, the number of forced returns was around 6.000. The Committee is concerned at the reported incidents of the excessive use of restraints during forced returns, some of which, according to NGO sources of information, have not been duly investigated (arts. 2, 3, 11, 12 and 16). The Committee urges the State party to use restraints during forced returns only in accordance with the principle of proportionality, and to investigate any incidents of excessive use of restraints and force during forced returns. Illegal treatment by the police and prison and border guards 19. The Committee expresses concern at the alleged incidents of illegal use of force, insults and mistreatment in the Koraal Specht prison in Curaçao and the cells at the police stations on the islands of St. Maarten, Bonaire and Aruba, as well as ethnic profiling by the police and border guards aimed in particular at foreigners and members of minorities. The State party should take measures to strengthen adequate training of law enforcement personnel and justice officials about the obligations stemming from the 6