The Ombudsman for Children, Emily Logan, yesterday told a UN committee in Geneva that the State's treatment of separated children seeking asylum was in breach of UN and European conventions on children's rights. Carl O'Brien, Social Affairs Correspondent, reports.
She was addressing the UN's Committee on the Rights of the Child, which is examining Ireland's progress in implementing of the international convention on children's rights.
In a submission, Ms Logan said the vast majority of such children were accommodated in privately owned hostels, operated by staff without any childcare training, and did not meet the standards for residential centres where Irish children are placed.
"The inferior care provided to separated children seeking asylum is unacceptable and places the State in breach of its obligation to prevent discrimination under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the European Convention on Human Rights," she said.
A number of other groups who addressed the UN committee - including the Irish Human Rights Commission and the Children's Rights Alliance, a coalition of 80 lobby groups - also expressed concern over the treatment of young asylum seekers.
The Government is due to travel to Geneva in September to account for its progress on protecting children's rights.
Ms Logan also called for a referendum to enshrine the rights of the child in the Constitution. She said the lack of an express statement of children's rights in the Constitution has resulted in a culture in which children's lives and opinions were not valued to the same extent as adults.
She also expressed concern over the lack of treatment for children with mental health difficulties, criticised plans to introduce anti-social behaviour orders (Absos) for children and called for a strengthening of child protection services.
The Children's Rights Alliance also expressed its support for a Constitutional amendment which would give greater protection to children.
It criticised the "unacceptable" level of child protection available and the delays in responding to the need of victims of abuse.
"Addressing these deficiencies should begin with placing the guidelines for reporting child abuse on a statutory footing and banning corporal punishment," the Alliance told the committee, in a prepared statement.
On the issue of integration in an increasingly diverse community, the group called for greater support for non-denominational schools, reforms to teacher training and changes to the curriculum for students.
Jillian van Turnhout, chief executive of the Children's Rights Alliance said that overall the meeting was very productive and informative.
She said: "We have advised the UN as to the areas in which the State is failing to uphold children's rights. Given that the State will now be focusing on preparations for its own hearing in September, we would ask them to also examine short-term changes that could be made between now and then."
The Irish Human Rights Commission's (IHRC) delegation called for the full implementation of the UN Convention and said existing provisions relating to the right to education, particularly for children with disabilities, received insufficient protection.
The Government should also urgently ratify separate UN protocols on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
It said: "[ We] believe there has been no comprehensive analysis of the legal issues surrounding the status of international human rights treaties in Irish law and the present report does not set out any position in relation to the possibility of incorporating the Convention on the Rights of the Child into domestic law."