A/75/183 40. In Europe, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has established that children should, as a rule, not be detained, 34 and has acknowledged that the Council of Europe “has a role to play in bringing to an end the immigration detention of migrant children and in identifying alternatives to that practice ”. 35 In 2017, the Council of Europe Action Plan on Protecting Refugee and Migrant Children in Europe (2017–2019) was adopted. The Action Plan, inter alia, aimed at addr essing some of the most persistent challenges with regard to the protection of migrant children, including by promoting measures to prevent the detention of ch ildren in the context of migration and supporting member States in providing appropriate receptio n, protection and care to them. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has also adopted a series of recommendations and resolutions consistently emphasizing that children should never be detained for immigration -related purposes and has encouraged member States to, inter alia, develop and implement non-custodial, community-based alternative programmes for children and their families. 36 Legislation and policies that restrict the use of immigration detention of specific groups or categories of children 41. Some States have included in their national legislation a prohibition on detaining children under a certain age or on the detention of specific individuals regarded as particularly vulnerable, such as unaccompanied or separated children. Some States allow, however, the detention of migrant families and older children who do not fall within protected categories. 42. Several European countries only prohibit immigration detention for younger children. For example, in Czechia, legislation provid es that unaccompanied children under the age of 15 may not be detained. 37 Similarly, Poland only prohibits the detention of unaccompanied child asylum seekers under the age of 15. 38 In Switzerland, the Federal Act on Foreign Nationals and Integration forbids immigration detention of children under the age of 15. 39 In Austria, the Aliens Police Act provides that children under the age of 14 may not be h eld in detention pending deportation. 40 43. Many other countries prohibit the detention of unaccompanied or se parated children or children seeking international protection. Half of the member States of the European Union do not allow unaccompanied children to be detained for asylum or return purposes. 41 Czechia, Cyprus, Germany and the Netherlands do not detain __________________ 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 10/23 Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, “Guidelines on human rights protection in the context of accelerated asylum procedures”, section XI, para. 2. Available at https://search.coe.int/ cm/Pages/result_details.aspx?ObjectId=09000016805b15d2. Ibid., Reply to Parliamentary Assembly recommendation 2056 (2014) on the alternatives to immigration detention of children, para. 2. Available at http://assembly.coe.int/nw/ xml/XRef/Xref-DocDetails-EN.asp?FileID=21296&lang=EN. Parliamentary Assembly recommendation 1703 (2005), recommendation 1596 (2003), recommendation 1985 (2011), resolution 1810 (2011), resolution 1707 (2010), resolution 2020 (2014), recommendation 2056 (2014), resolution 2136 (2016), resolution 2195 (2017), resolution 2295 (2019) and resolution 2324 (2020). Available at https://pace.coe.int/en/pages/official-documents. Submission by the Public Defender of Rights of Czechia. Poland, Law on Foreigners. Available at http://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp? id=WDU20130001650. Switzerland, Federal Act on Foreign Nationals and Integration, art. 80, para. 4, and art. 80a, para. 5; submissions by Switzerland and by Terre des Hommes Suisse. Austria, Aliens Police Act, art. 76 (1); submission by the Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations. European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, European legal and policy framework on immigration detention of children (Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union, 2017). 20-09734