A/75/183 the spread of contagious diseases. The efforts of Portugal to ensure that migrant s can access public services during the COVID-19 outbreak deserves mention. Under the measures taken, Portugal has granted all migrants and asylum seekers who have pending applications the right to temporary residency, thus giving them access to the nation al health service, welfare benefits, bank accounts, work and rental contracts. 116 Formal status, documentation and regularization as a means of protection 73. Regularization policies significantly contribute to migrant children’s integration into the host society as well as to the fulfilment of their rights, their development and the protection of family life. It also improves the social and economic situation of migrant families, allowing parents to better fulfil their obligations to their children. In this regard, in their national laws, Eswatini, Kenya, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia consider unaccompanied migrant children found on the border with an unidentifiable nationality as their own nationals. 117 74. Some countries have adopted national legislation and policies creating various types of residence permits and regularization pathways for migrant children and their families. Finland and Norway, for example, provide residence permits for unaccompanied children who do not meet the legal requirements to enter or stay in the country, but who cannot be returned to their countries of origin. 118 Similarly, Sweden conducted a regularization programme from 2005 to 2006, targeting individuals and mostly families with children who had been issued re moval orders but could not be returned to their country. The programme granted 17,406 residence permits and took into account factors such as length of stay in Sweden, situation in their country of origin, criminal history and social and health circumstanc es. 75. Under the measure Primero la Niñez (Childhood First), Colombia granted nationality to children born in Colombia to Venezuelan parents from 2015 onward, benefiting more than 36,000 children who were at risk of statelessness, thereby ensuring the protection of the children’s rights and their inclusion. 119 In Uruguay, decree No. 118/018 provides for the possibility of granting permanent residency to foreign nationals in vulnerable situations, including unaccompanied minors. 120 Legal advice, representation and interpretation 76. Immediately after arrival and identification, each unaccompanied or separated child should be provided with a qualified guardian tasked with protecting their best interests. The provision of a legal representative may also be necessary when the child is involved in asylum or judicial proceedings. Guardianship exists in a number of countries. For example, in Switzerland, unaccompanied asylum -seeking children are guaranteed by law a support person, who guides, supports and repre sents the child during the entire asylum process. 121 77. New Zealand has provisions to ensure that accompanied children in family asylum and immigration processes are treated as independent rights holders who have their own child-specific or individual reasons for such processes, instead of as an “add on” to their parents’ files. 122 __________________ 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 20-09734 Joana Gorjão Henriques, “Governo regulariza todos os imigrantes que tenham pedidos pendentes no SEF”, Público, 28 March 2020. Available at www.publico.pt/2020/03/28/sociedade/noticia/ governo-regulariza-imigrantes-pedidos-pendentes-sef-1909791. International Detention Coalition, There are alternatives: Africa. UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti, Protected on Paper?, p. 43. Submission by Colombia. Submission by Uruguay. Submission by Switzerland. Immigration New Zealand, “Guidelines on children or minors at the Refugee Status Branch”, 2017. 19/23