Author
Pursuant to the Regulation on Migrant Custody Centres unaccompanied children are not subject to placement MCC but are sent to a children’s shelter of the Children’s Service.[1] Other categories are not mentioned in the Regulation. Also, in the Code of Administrative Procedure, there are no restrictions or specific categories which could not be detained.
NGOs and the Parliamentary Commissioner’s office rarely report cases of the detention of unaccompanied children, as such instances are infrequent. A relevant case was mentioned only in 2018, where monitors found two Bangladeshi unaccompanied minors in Chernihiv MCC, who had been on the territory of the detention facility for almost six months, but during this time they had not received a legal representative to protect their interests in the Ukrainian state authorities.[2] However, such cases are not common in practice. In the Communication from Ukraine concerning the group of cases of Kebe and Others v. Ukraine to the Council of Europe, the Government confirmed that in 2022-2024 unaccompanied minors from foreign nations have not been placed at the MCC.[3]
[1] Para. 6 Model Regulation on the Migrant Custody Centres.
[2] Cheline, Rights of Minor Migrants from Bangladesh are Grossly Violated in Chernihiv Region – Parliament Commissioner, 09 January 2018, availablein Ukrainian here.
[3] Committee of Ministers, 1507th meeting (September 2024) (DH) – Action plan (02/07/2024) – Communication from Ukraine concerning the group of cases of Kebe and Others v. Ukraine, 11 July 2024, DH-DD(2024)779, available here.