A/HRC/33/53
Government of Zimbabwe. Those centres provide basic social services for children and
allow for family reunification.
53.
A number of children in Africa are born in countries of transit in very precarious
conditions. In Senegal, the phenomenon of talibés is growing. Talibé children are taken by
marabouts (Koranic teachers) to cities, allegedly for the purpose of learning the Koran. In
reality, the marabouts exploit the children and force them to pay money. Studies indicate
that there are some 15,000 children without a family in Dakar who are victims of
exploitation. In most cases, the children come from the southern regions or neighbouring
countries like Guinea-Bissau.34
54.
In Haiti, the situation is among the most alarming in the Caribbean, as the country
has no reception structures dedicated to children. Unaccompanied children are kept together
with repatriated adults in transit centres operated by the Government. In general, the centres
do not meet the general standards in terms of hygiene, water and appropriate food.35
IV. Main human rights violations faced by unaccompanied
migrant children and adolescents
55.
A common denominator in almost every State is the lack of information about
human rights violations faced by unaccompanied migrant children.
56.
Specifically, the rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child that are most
often violated in respect of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are the right to nondiscrimination, the right to development, the right to have a name and a nationality, the
right to family reunification, the right to health and medical care, the right to education and
the right to special protection measures; in addition, the principles of upholding the best
interest of the child and of respecting the views of the child are often violated.36
57.
Unaccompanied migrant children are among the most vulnerable groups, as such
children can be subjected to forced labour, drug trafficking, human trafficking and sexual
exploitation. Some face a situation of even greater vulnerability because they lack
documentation from their country of origin, making it difficult to regulate their migration
status and to access social services when arriving in a foreign country.
58.
Discrimination based on race and ethnicity still exists in the United States, even in
governmental institutions. For instance, the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) interviewed 100 Guatemalan children aged between
12 and 17 years who had entered the United States and were in federal custody. Of the total,
48 per cent identified as indigenous and complained of racism and discrimination against
their community.37
59.
Trafficking for the purpose of sexual or economic exploitation, the removal of
organs and other forms of violence are the most severe violations experienced by migrant
children in Paraguay. These situations prevent access to other basic rights such as the rights
34
35
36
37
Information provided by Caritas Senegal.
Information provided by WorldVision Haiti.
The international legal principles that prescribe the responsibilities of States to unaccompanied
children are based on two main conventions: the Convention on the Rights of the Child, of 1989, and
the Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, of 1967.
Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, University of California Hastings College of Law, and
others, Niñez y Migración en Centro y Norte América: Causas, Políticas, Prácticas y Desafíos
(February 2015) pp. 49 and 125.
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