A/HRC/36/51 as many as 80 per cent have disappeared from reception centres. In the camp in the northern French town of Calais which was dismantled in October 2016, nearly one in three migrant children tracked by a refugee charity had gone missing. 29 33. In 2015, a total of 3,784 migrant deaths was recorded in the Mediterranean, 35 per cent of them of unknown origin, 33 per cent from sub Saharan Africa and 9.5 per cent from the Horn of Africa.30 While the total rates of migration are low, the proportion of children among African migrants is the largest for any region. Nearly one in three African migrants is a child, more than twice the global average. 31 34. Mexico, situated in the middle of the biggest flow of migration in Latin America, is a country of origin, transit, destination and return of migrants. The Americas are home to 6.3 million child migrants, one fifth of the global total. 32 The migrants are of Mexican origin intending to enter the United States of America or children of another nationality who enter Mexico as a country of destination or transit on their way to the United States. In recent years, the arrival and irregular movement of children in Mexico has increased enormously; they come mainly from Central American countries. 33 According to UNICEF Mexico, the number of unaccompanied migrant children who were detected by Mexican immigration authorities increased by a factor of 3.3 between 2013 and 2015. 35. In the United States, Customs and Border Protection officers and Border Patrol agents identify individuals as unaccompanied children. After processing the administrative case, they either transfer the child to an institution which will take care of him or her or, if permitted under the limited circumstances provided by law, arrange for the child’s voluntary return. Migrant children should not be in the custody of Customs and Border Protection for more than 72 hours while they are assigned accommodation. However, they do stay in the custody of the Border Patrol for extended time periods in temporary locations and under conditions that affect their development and emotional health. 34 36. In 2015, migrant arrests in the United States declined, but the number of arrests and deportations from Mexico to Central America increased dramatically. This is due in some degree to pressure by the United States on Mexico.35 Despite the decrease in arrests in the United States, repatriation is still common. In 2014, 14,352 repatriations of Mexican children were carried out by the United States. The corresponding figure from January to July 2015 is 6,772.36 37. In Mexico, immigration authorities detain unaccompanied migrant children from Central America who are detected at points of entry and by migration interviews at rail and road mobile posts. 37 According to the Migration Act, the National Migration Institute should remove the children and accommodate them at the facilities of the National System for Integral Family Development. However, contrary to the amendment to article 29 of the Migration Act, children are detained for long and unpredictable periods after being apprehended by the immigration authorities. 38 The National Human Rights Commission of Mexico has found that, of 35 migrant holding centres, only 11 have areas for families and over 50 per cent lack specific spaces for the accommodation of children. Moreover, the 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 8 Zoe Tabary, “One in three child migrants missing after Calais Jungle closure: charity”, 23 November 2016. Available from: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-children-idUSKBN13J01Z. Source: IOM, “Missing migrants: tracking deaths along migratory routes — Mediterranean”. Available from https://missingmigrants.iom.int/mediterranean (accessed 20 July 2017). UNICEF, Uprooted: the Growing Crisis for Refugee and Migrant Children (New York, 2016), p. 8. Ibid., p. 9. According to statistics from the National System for Integral Family Development, most children who are in transit or in an irregular migration situation in Mexico are adolescent males with basic education. Source: the Association of International Consultants and Advisers. Source: World Vision Latin America and the Caribbean. Source: Ministry of the Interior of Mexico. Mexico is not the only country that detains migrant children. The lack of statistics makes it difficult to know the number of detained children; however, it is estimated that over 100 countries detain children for immigration purposes. See http://endchilddetention.org/the-issue/. Source: Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, Mexico.