Author
The law explicitly excludes children without legal guardians from the detention regime. Other vulnerable persons may, however, be detained, although detention should be applied only where strictly necessary and for the shortest possible period in such cases.
In practice, vulnerability does not constitute an absolute safeguard against detention. There is limited information available on systematic identification of vulnerabilities during detention proceedings, and stakeholders report a lack of experience with vulnerability assessments being carried out at that stage. The Ombudsperson has documented at least one case involving a detained person claiming to be a minor, indicating that the legal prohibition may not always operate as a fully effective safeguard in practice.
No official statistics on the number of detained children, including unaccompanied children, were available during the reference period.