A/HRC/15/29 54. State authorities seeking to uphold the principle of family unity in situations of irregular migration should seek to address the situation of parents and families in ways that do not contemplate the detention of migrant children. The principle to be applied in such circumstances should be “care” rather than a punitive or disciplinary approach, and adequate alternatives to detention, such as community-based and casework-oriented models, should be contemplated in the first instance.46 55. The safeguards surrounding alternatives to detention should be as rigorous as those applied to situations of detention, including ensuring that the alternative measure is established in law, is non-discriminatory in purpose and effect, and is subject to judicial review, and that the migrant has access to legal counsel. States should always use the least restrictive means necessary as alternatives to detention. Particularly in the case of children, it is important to examine the effect that applying an alternative model will have on the rights and dignity of the individual; for example, children released from detention centres should be provided with appropriate alternative care, and not be left destitute on the streets. 56. In the rare instances where migrant children may be lawfully detained, international human rights standards assert that a number of fundamental safeguards must be applied. These are underlined by the principle that the migrant child must at all times be treated with humanity and dignity, in a manner which takes into account the particular needs of the child. Children must be allowed contact with their families and prompt access to legal counsel and interpretation. Adequate and culturally appropriate food, clothing and medical care should be provided in line with international standards, and every child must be able to access appropriate educational and recreation facilities. F. Right to identity and the principle of family unity 57. Children born to irregular migrant parents often are not registered at birth.47 Irregular migrants who do not possess valid identity documents can be denied the right in law to register their children in the host country, or will not register their children in practice because of fears of being detected by the authorities and deported as a result. Administrative and practical obstacles to birth registration also include lack of knowledge of the language used in birth registration forms and procedures, and high registration fees. This can have serious consequences for the individual child, and leave him or her vulnerable to human rights violations for many years if not addressed. 58. Birth registration is the “official recording of the birth of a child by some administrative level of the State. It is a permanent and official record of a child’s existence”.48 It is in addition an important means of securing other rights, such as the right to education and to health, to protection from child recruitment and from trafficking.49 Children who are registered at birth can be protected from statelessness, and can also be protected from arbitrary actions by law enforcement authorities in host countries. 46 47 48 49 14 See Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 6. For a study on alternatives to the detention of children, see International Detention Coalition, “Children in Detention”. Available from http://idcoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/children-in-detention.pdf. It is estimated that some 50 million births go unregistered each year, of which a significant proportion would be children born in the context of migration (Inter-Parliamentary Union, Child protection: A handbook for parliamentarians (SRO-Kundig, 2004), p. 42). Ibid., p. 42. The Human Rights Committee has noted that birth registration can “reduce the danger of abduction, sale of or traffic in children” (general comment No. 17 on the rights of the child).