Best interests of the child must come first, UN child rights committee reminds Australia
GENEVA (3 February 2016) – The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has reminded the Australian authorities that,
under the terms of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Australia is a party, the best interests of the
child should be a primary consideration when taking any decision concerning children.
The Committee was reacting to the decision by the Australian High Court that the government’s policy of detaining asylum
seekers offshore is legal, thereby clearing the way for more than 260 people currently in Australia, including dozens of
children and infants, to be deported to an immigration processing centre in Nauru.
“The Committee had already expressed its concern in 2012 when it reviewed Australia at ‘the inadequate understanding and
application of the principle of the best interests of the child in asylum-seeking, refugee and/or immigration detention
situations’,”* said Committee Chair Benyam Mezmur. “This decision by the High Court greatly concerns us as these
children and their families face a great risk in being sent to a place that cannot be considered safe nor adequate.”
Among those who could face deportation are reportedly 54 children, as well as 37 babies who were born in Australia.
Article 3 (1) of the Convention states: “In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private
social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the
child shall be a primary consideration.”
ENDS