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International Conference on Unaccompanied Immigrant Children

TIJUANA, B.C., MEXICO (June 24, 2014) - A group of North and Central American academic institutions and civil society groups who work on childhood and adolescent issues in the immigration context convened at the headquarters of the College of the Northern Border (Colegio de la Frontera Norte) in Tijuana. We believe that the growing number of immigrant children who find themselves forced to undertake dangerous journeys through the region and who have arrived in the United States and Mexico in the last few months constitute a structural and multidimensional phenomenon that requires the following responses:

In the immediate context, it is imperative that the children not be returned or deported automatically, or placed in immigration detention centers. On the contrary, they should be placed in shelters that ensure their rights are respected, particularly the right to family unity.

Furthermore, comprehensive protection measures should be applied in every case and based on the best interests of the child. These measures should ensue through a procedure that guarantees individual due process, including the right to counsel, right to legal information in the child’s language, and access to consular assistance.

The current situation represents an important opportunity for the States involved to, under the principle of shared responsibility, comprehensively address the phenomenon of child and adolescent migration.

We urge governments to adopt national and regional policies for human development that ensure a quality standard of living, so that each and every person may live free of violence and discrimination. We urge governments to receive these young immigrants, either permanently or temporarily, to provide them the humanitarian protection and due process required under national and international laws.

Signatories: Colegio de la Frontera Norte, Casa YMCA de Menores Migrantes, Iniciativa Frontera Norte de México, Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Matías de Córdova A.C. /México, Asociación Misioneros de San Carlos Scalabrinianos /El Salvador, Pastoral de Movilidad Humana /Guatemala, Asociación Pop No´j /Guatemala, Casa Alianza/ Honduras, El Centro de Estudios de Género y Refugiados, National Immigrant Justice Center/ Estados Unidos y el Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Universidad Nacional de Lanús/ Argentina

 

This convening was supported by Alianza para las Migraciones en Centroamérica y México / Central America and Mexico Migration Alliance – CAMMINA, as part of the Project “Strengthening the Institutional Regional Approach to the Matter of Child Migrants” led by the Asociación Misioneros de San Carlos Scalabrinianos.
CAMMINA is an alliance created by three international philanthropic organizations (Avina Foundation, Ford Foundation, and the Open Society Foundation), whose mission is to secure sustainable changes in public policy that promote the rights of migrating people and contribute to the economic sustainability of the communities of origin in Mexico and Central America so migration can become an option and not a necessity.

See this statement in Spanish.