Working together to end immigration detention: 15 a collection of noteworthy practices detention of unaccompanied children. The same In other countries, developments with regard principle also applies to children with their families, to child detention are the result of civil society leading to an implicit prohibition of their deten- advocacy combined with litigation.61 In Belgium, the tion.54 In Spain, L. 4/2000,55 as amended in 2009, detention of unaccompanied children is prohibited prohibits the detention of unaccompanied children and the detention of families in closed centres was in return procedures. According to L. 12/2009, both suspended in 2009, following the communication unaccompanied children and children with their of two ECtHR judgements for the ill-treatment families cannot be detained in the context of asylum and violation of the right of liberty against minors procedures. As in Italy, despite the lack of an explicit in detention. 62 However, between August 2018 prohibition of the detention of children with their and April 2019, Belgium started once again to families for return purposes, these children are no detain children and families in closed centres for longer detained in practice. migration purposes. Fifteen associations, including 56 57 DCI-Belgium, and the Order of the French-speaking Several organisations have been implementing and German-speaking Bars of Belgium, seized the campaigns and other initiatives to promote com- Council of State.63 munity-based solutions for children in immigration procedures. This includes the International Detention A few months after the reopening of the detention Coalition at the international level, and the centre for children, the Platform Minors in Exile International Commission of Jurists59 at the European mobilised to try and convince the government, level. These advocacy campaigns can influence the opposition parties, civil society organisations and decisions of states. In the context of the International the larger population that the detention of children Migration Review Forum (IMRF), for instance, some constitutes a violation of their fundamental rights, States, including Colombia, Mexico, Thailand, and through the ‘You don’t lock up a child’ campaign.64 Germany among others,60 made pledges regarding In addition, a doctor and the two Belgian children’s the ending of child immigration detention and ombudsmen repeatedly asked the government to promoting best practices on this matter. stop detaining children, citing the negative impact 58 54 Although in immigration law there is not an explicit prohibition of detention of families with children, they cannot be expelled according to a combined reading of Articles 19, par. 2 and 31 of the Italian Consolidated Text on Immigration. The only exception to the general rule is when it is proved to be in their best interest to follow the parents who received a deportation order. This is rarely the case and, even so, detention facilities are not equipped to detain families with children. This results in a generalised absence of child detention. 55 Ley Organica on foreigners n. 4/2000 of 11.1.2000. 56 Ley Organica on the right to asylum n.12/2009 of 30.10.2009. 57 In 2015, the Spanish Supreme Court declared invalid the clauses that still allowed adults accompanied by their minor children to be detained, even in specific units dedicated to families. This ruling was the result of the strategic litigation promoted by three NGOs: Asociación pro Derechos Humanos de Andalucía, Federación de Asociaciones de SOS Racismo del Estado Español and Federación Andalucía Acoge. Judgment of the Supreme Court of 10 February 2015. (Ref. BOE-A-2015-548). Information provided in writing by Servicio Jesuita a Migrantes on 11 October 2023. See also Servicio Jesuita a Migrantes (SJM), Informe CIE (see for instance the 2019, 2021 and 2022 report). 58 For more information on the International detention coalition work to end Child Immigration Detention, see here. 59 For more information on EU Training materials on Alternatives to Detention for Migrant Children see here. 60 International Detention Coalition (IDC), 2022, Beyond the 2022 IMRF: What’s Next?. 61 Interview with Anna Sibley, GISTI/Migreurop, France, on 6 February 2023. 62 ECtHR, 13.12.2011, Kanagaratnam and Others v. Belgium, app. n° 15297/09; ECtHR, 19.1.2010, Muskhadzhiyeva and Others v Belgium, app. n° 41442/07. 63 PICUM, 2019, Fighting against the detention of migrant children in Belgium. 64 Platform Minors in exile and UNICEF Belgium, 2019, ‘You don’t lock up a child. Period’. See also PICUM, 2019, Fighting against the detention of migrant children in Belgium.