material conditions are “appropriate”, the psychological and emotional aggressions to which children in administrative detention are subjected to entail such negative consequences that they may as such violate article 3 ECHR. It ruled that “the protection of the child’s best interests involves both keeping the family together, as far as possible, and considering alternatives so that the detention of minors is only a measure of last resort.”23 Practice pointer Some States do not detain children as a matter of policy or clearly state in their national legislation that the best interest of the child is paramount. Alternatives to detention of children were successfully identified in states such as Estonia. Participants stressed that age determination also represents a challenge; the widespread use of XRays to determine bone age is not scientifically correct and the more complex and trusted multidisciplinary means, sometimes foreseen in law, are often not applied in practice. A case of age identification was shared where children were photographed naked. The NPM successfully intervened to stop this practice, which amounted to degrading treatment. Other observations included that age determination can be lengthy and result in the detention of children with adults. Participants also mentioned that they observed cases where children chose not to identify themselves as such because they feared to be separated from their parents. It became clear during the discussions that monitoring bodies face challenges related to data collection concerning children in immigration detention. To obtain data regarding the procedure of identification of age and the number of children detained, when children are often scattered throughout different facilities, seems to be a key challenge of immigration detention monitoring. Several organizations, in particular from civil society, have advocated for ending immigration detention of children, calling for alternatives to detention.24 Positive examples of such alternatives have been reported, including by NPMs of the OSCE region.25 Ways to reduce children’s trauma involve community-based care arrangements, ensuring access to education and healthcare, providing age-tailored information regarding rights and procedures, and appointing a guardian and a lawyer as soon as possible in cases of unaccompanied minors.26 D. Monitoring the detention of migrants Participants agreed that it is key for NPMs, national civil society and other relevant bodies, including international mechanisms, to keep monitoring the legality and conditions of any detention of migrants. ECtHR, Popov v. France, §§ 140-141; European Court of Human Rights, Factsheet on “Accompanied migrant minors in detention”, April 2018: https://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/FS_Accompanied_migrant_minors_detention_ENG.pdf. 24 See https://endchilddetention.org/. 25 See, for example, Monitoring places of detention - Eighth Annual Report of the United Kingdom’s National Preventive Mechanism, February 2018, https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/npm-prod-storage19n0nag2nk8xk/uploads/2018/02/6.4122_NPM_AR2016-17_v4_web.pdf. 26 Report on access to justice for migrant persons, General Assembly, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights of Migrants, 25 September 2018, A/73/178/Rev.1, http://undocs.org/A/73/178/Rev.1. 23 13