The UN reproaches Spain for its treatment of unaccompanied migrant minors

The Committee on the Rights of the Child, the UN body that ensures compliance with children's rights, has determined this Tuesday that the procedure for determining the age of unaccompanied migrant minors in Spain violates their human rights.

Specifically, the opinion refers to the decisions of the Spanish authorities on young immigrants who, despite having communicated their minority upon arrival in Spain, were registered as adults and interned in Foreign Internment Centers (CIE).

The body has adopted 14 decisions against Spain since 2019 for violations of the right to identity, the right to be heard and the right to special protection of children deprived of their family environment.

Among the cases cited, the opinion of the young Guinean MB, 17, who arrived in Almería in June 2017, after the boat in which he was traveling was intercepted by the Red Cross.

Despite informing the National Police that he was a minor, he was registered as a 21-year-old adult, his asylum application was denied and he was admitted to a center for adult foreigners in Madrid.

Although the NGO Fundación Raíces obtained a copy of his birth certificate, which proved his minority, this condition was not recognized, he was not assigned a guardian to look after his interests nor was he offered the protection to which children they have a right under international law.

Lourdes Reyzábal, president of the Foundation, agrees with the Committee's decision.

"We have been denouncing for more than ten years that the procedure for determining the age of children who arrive alone and alone in Spain violates their fundamental rights," he says.

For Reyzábal, the decision of the Ministry of Justice to create a working group to modify the age determination process is good news, but he harbors some skepticism.

"We are extremely concerned that a procedure will be designed that again is not absolutely guaranteeing the rights of children who arrive alone in Spain," he says.

In another of the cases cited by the agency, the young AL was arrested by the security forces when he arrived in Almería irregularly in April 2017. The teenager informed the police that he was 17 years old.

After being examined by the hospital, which determined that his bone age was more than 19 years, it was determined that he was an adult and he was also transferred to an ICD.

Again, Fundación Raíces provided support and managed to present his birth certificate to the Court of Almería, although he never received a response from it.

According to the Committee, in none of the 14 cases studied did Spain carry out a correct procedure for determining the age of these migrant minors.

In addition, in their opinion they indicate that identity documents, when available, must always be considered valid, unless there is evidence to the contrary, as recognized by the Supreme Court.

The Committee also calls on the Spanish State to ensure that "the best interest of the child" is taken as a "primary consideration" in the age determination procedure.

These tests affect the lives of thousands of young people.

According to data from the 2020 Prosecutor's Office Report, territorial prosecutors opened 7,745 age determination files in Spain throughout 2019. 2,477 of the interested parties were declared adults and, therefore, without protection.