A/HRC/35/25/Add.2 3. Protective custody 99. Due to a shortage of suitable accommodation or of a comprehensive protection system for child asylum seekers and migrants, children are often detained in “protective custody”, in reception and identification centres, or in police stations or pre-removal centres under police custody, while awaiting referral to an adequate shelter facility, which often takes longer than the 45 days prescribed by law. 100. The number of shelter places available for unaccompanied minors is drastically below needs. The Special Rapporteur was informed that there were 347 shelter spaces for unaccompanied minors as of 8 March 2016, and 119 unaccompanied minors were waiting to be placed in a shelter. By mid-February 2017, the number of unaccompanied minors was 2,100, while the available shelters could only accommodate 1,310.19 101. The Special Rapporteur met with unaccompanied minors, detained in a separate section in the Moria Reception and Identification Centre and welcomes the information that many were transferred to shelters between his visit and March 2017. Some of them were seriously traumatized and reported bullying and incidents of violence, without protection from the supervising authorities. On the mainland, the Special Rapporteur met unaccompanied minors locked in police station cells 24/7 without access to the outdoors for over two weeks and without any recreational or educational activity. He was informed that some may stay for a month or more. 102. Children in “protective custody” lack access to interpreters, to legal assistance, and to information presented in a child-friendly manner, and hence are not aware of their reason for detention, of the next steps in the process and of their rights. Most of them face serious mental health issues, with a particularly high number of suicide attempts. Psychological services are often not available, although some local NGOs provide such services. 103. Overall, as determined by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, administrative detention based on the immigration status of the child or of his or her parents can never be in the best interest of a child. Given the incalculable detrimental effects that detention has on children’s mental and physical health and development, it is utterly unacceptable for children to be detained simply because of an administrative status. 104. Regardless of the conditions in which children are held, detention has a profound and negative impact on child health and development. Even short periods of detention can undermine a child’s psychological and physical well-being and compromise cognitive development. The threshold at which treatment or punishment may be classified as cruel, inhuman or degrading is therefore lower in the case of children, and in particular in the case of children deprived of their liberty. VII. Role of the European Union 105. While responding to the urgent needs of migrants within Greece, the country is simultaneously under pressure to implement austerity measures, which have severe consequences on the Greek people. It is therefore critical that the responsibility be shared, that international obligations be upheld, and that the human rights of all be protected. 106. The “migration crisis” is not simply a political problem: the full measure of the constitutional, European and international frameworks applies. Although the European Union adopted two decisions in 2015 to relocate at least 66,400 persons from Greece, the Special Rapporteur notes that relocation remains a big challenge. As at 27 February 2017, only 9,610 transfers had taken place.20 Unfortunately, the behaviour of many actors in the European Union, and especially in European Union Member States, seems to indicate that they consider human rights and the rule of law to be dispensable in regard to migrants under these circumstances. The Special Rapporteur urges the European Union to urgently 19 20 16 See https://data2.unhcr.org/en/documents/download/53990. See https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/what-we-do/policies/europeanagenda-migration/20170302_tenth_report_on_relocation_and_resettlement_annex_1_en.pdf.