Detained children at ‘grave risk’ of contracting coronavirus – UNICEF chief

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 13 (APP):Hundreds of thousands of children in detention around the world are at “grave risk” of contracting coronavirus, the head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Henrietta Fore, said Monday, while calling for their urgent release.

Ms. Fore painted a picture of children detained in overcrowded spaces with inadequate access to nutrition, healthcare and hygiene services – conditions highly conducive to spreading disease, and urged governments around the world to free them.

“An outbreak in one of these facilities could happen at any moment”, she said in a statement, adding that these children were also more exposed to neglect, abuse and gender-based violence, especially with low staffing levels or care negatively impacted by the pandemic.

Children across the globe are being held in the juvenile justice system, including pre-trial custody, in immigration detention, or on other administrative grounds. They are also detained in relation to armed conflict, national security or activism, or may be living with parents who are under lock and key.

“These children and those at risk of contracting the virus due to underlying physical and mental health conditions should be released”, Ms. Fore, the UNICEF director, stressed, calling on governments and other authorities to “urgently release all children” who can safely return to their families, or an appropriate alternative.

Such alternatives include extended families and other family or community-based care.

Moreover, UNICEF also called for an “immediate moratorium on new admissions of children to detention facilities”.

In closing, she spelled out that the rights of children to protection, safety and wellbeing must be upheld at all times: “The best way to uphold the rights of detained children amidst a dangerous pandemic is their safe release.”