A/HRC/44/42/Add.2 Herzegovina-Neretva Canton still did not have access to formal education. A decision on that matter was pending before the cantonal authorities, and the Special Rapporteur hopes to see positive developments soon. In the meantime, he understood that civil society organizations, United Nations agencies and the relevant authorities were working together to facilitate the enrolment of asylum-seeking children between 15 and 18 years of age in formal education. VI. Immigration detention 56. The Special Rapporteur was pleased to learn that immigration detention was not automatic or mandatary and that it was used as a last resort in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Immigration detention, or placing an alien under surveillance in the immigration centre managed by the Service for Foreigners’ Affairs, is a measure provided by the Law on foreigners, and triggered by an issued decision. In 2018, a total of 948 aliens were detained in the immigration centre. 57. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, forcible removal occurs when an alien has received an order to leave Bosnia and Herzegovina and has failed to abide with the decision within the deadline provided for the voluntary return. The Service for Foreigners’ Affairs is responsible for the removal of aliens from Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2018, 1,540 expulsion orders were issued, but only three individuals were forcibly removed from Bosnia and Herzegovina. 10 The Special Rapporteur acknowledges the low percentage of forcible removal in Bosnia and Herzegovina and is encouraged to see the efforts made by the relevant authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina to primarily apply the method of voluntary return in the context of irregular entries. 58. The immigration centre managed by the Ministry of Security is located in the eastern part of Sarajevo. The facility has a capacity of 80 beds in a male pavilion, 12 beds in a female pavilion and two apartments for families. On the day of the visit of the Special Rapporteur, 53 individuals, all single males, were held at the facility. During the visit to the immigration centre, the Special Rapporteur witnessed one migrant being put into solitary confinement, through an administrative decision, for a period of seven days for violent behaviour. The Special Rapporteur verified through several sources that there was an incident the preceding day at one of the reception centres in which the behaviour of the migrant concerned indeed put others in danger. Solitary confinement is a harsh measure, which may cause severe psychological and physical adverse effects on individuals. Although the Special Rapporteur recognizes the valid security concerns of the authorities, he wishes to stress that solitary confinement should only be used in exceptional cases, as a last resort, for as short a time as possible and be subject to independent review. 59. The Special Rapporteur was informed at the immigration centre that at least two migrants detained at the facility claimed to be minors. After an exchange on the matter with the relevant authorities, it was confirmed that there were similar cases in which individuals, after being placed in immigration detention for a while, declared that they were minors. According to the relevant authorities, there is a strictly prescribed legal procedure to follow for such requests. The competent authorities are obliged to act in accordance with article 123 of the Law on foreigners, on the protection of the rights of minors, and every request is processed under an urgent procedure, unless otherwise determined. Although the Special Rapporteur is not in a position to verify the authenticity of the two claims that were brought to his attention during the visit, he is concerned about the alleged lack of an age assessment, including when the individuals changed their age claims. Based on the information provided by the relevant authorities, when interviewing a migrant for the first time, in cases in which there is no identity document available to establish the age of the person, the age is recorded as provided by the person. The lack of an age assessment in the registration process and the potential negative impacts on children are mentioned above, in the section concerning unaccompanied and separated children and other individuals with protection needs. 60. While acknowledging that the centre was short staffed, because some staff were reassigned to other facilities due to the influx of arrivals, the Special Rapporteur was concerned that, because of the workforce shortfall, some detainees had been deprived of their 10 Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ministry of Security, “Bosnia and Herzegovina migration profile for the year 2018”. 11