A/65/222 101. Detention of children should be a measure of last resort and should be for the shortest period of time possible. The deprivation of liberty of children in the context of migration should never have a punitive nature, accordingly: (a) The exceptional migration related detention of children should be executed in places ensuring the integral protection and well-being of the child, taking due consideration of the fulfilment of the child’s rights, inter alia, to education, health care, recreation, consular assistance and legal representation; (b) States should bear in mind that children should be kept separate from non-related adults; if housed with families, they should have accommodation distinct from other adults. 102. The Special Rapporteur encourages the conclusion of bilateral and multilateral agreements based on existing international human rights norms and standards and increased cooperation at the regional level to protect migrant children, especially those unaccompanied, including in matters of safe repatriation, the fight against trafficking, sexual exploitation and smuggling and assistance to victims. 103. States should base any decision to return a child or a child’s parents to the country of origin on the best interests of the child, including the right to family unity and education. 104. States should uphold the principle of avoiding statelessness and enforce legal norms at the national and international levels to reduce statelessness resulting from the failure to register the birth of a child, including because of the fears associated with the criminalization of irregular migration. States should take effective measures to guarantee the birth registration of children born outside their parents’ country of origin, regardless of the parents’ immigration status. 105. States should ensure that age-assessment processes comply with international standards and that the persons concerned are allowed access to effective remedies to challenge age-assessment decisions. States should also consider according a “benefit of the doubt” in age-determination procedures. 106. The Special Rapporteur encourages the design and implementation of programmes for the sustainable return and reintegration of children, including alternatives to return on the basis of the best interest of the child. 3. The protection of victims of trafficking, labour abuse and exploitation 107. The Special Rapporteur further recommends that Governments: (a) Take all necessary steps to prevent multiple discrimination and re-victimization, ensuring that effective structures and mechanisms are put in place to assist victims to reintegrate into society, including by providing them with psychological, health and social assistance; (b) Incorporate into national policies, plans and programmes, and effectively implement, the Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human Trafficking (E/2002/68/Add.1); (c) Consider signing the Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings of the Council of Europe, which is open to non-member States, 24 10-47488