46 | Annual Report 2018 Monitoring activities — children Theme for 2018 Use of force and other interventions in asylum centres for children and in private accommodation facilities for, among others, children and young people with an asylum background The theme of the monitoring visits carried out by the Ombudsman’s Children’s Division in 2018 focused on children and young people with an asylum background. The theme encompassed children and young people who were either asylum seekers or rejected asylum seekers or had been granted a residence permit. The children and young people were mostly unaccompanied underage foreign nationals. As part of the theme, the Ombudsman’s visiting teams visited five private accommodation facilities and four asylum centres for children. The visits focused especially on • use of physical force • practice regarding notification of municipalities about children and young people who may be in need of special support Examples of important conclusions • There is general awareness of ensuring that the well-being of the child or the young person is given primary consideration, also in connection with use of force, and of the duty to notify the municipality about children and young people who may need special support. • In several asylum centres and accommodation facilities, there is inadequate knowledge of the legislation on use of force. • Many asylum centres and accommodation facilities face challenges with children and young people who have lost hope due to being refused residence, who abuse substances or have street-oriented behaviour or who disappear. The Ombudsman generally recommends • that children’s asylum centres and accommodation facilities ensure - that staff are familiar with the legislation on use of force - that guidelines on use of force are in com­ pliance with legislation - that children, young people, parents and personal representatives are informed about their rights in relation to use of force when children and young people arrive • that accommodation facilities ensure that medicines are handled in accordance with applicable rules Please see the Ombudsman’s specific recommendations (extracts) in the table on pages 48-51. Reports on the themes for our monitoring visits in recent years can be found at www.ombudsmanden.dk by clicking the small globe icon at the top of the site, selecting ‘English’ and choosing the heading ‘About the Ombudsman’ and then ‘Publications’.