Prague, Oct 8 (CTK) – The Czech Government Council for Human Rights approved Thursday draft new measures to improve the treatment of foreigners and Jiri Dienstbier, human rights and equal opportunities minister, will submit them to the government, Olga Jerabkova, from his office, has told CTK.
The committee for the rights of children, which is part of the above government council, demands that families with children be not placed in detention facilities for refugees, she said.
The committee proposed ten fundamental principles of adequate treatment of foreigners’ children.
The Czech Republic has long been criticised for placing children in facilities in which foreigners are detained. One of the critics is the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child.
The government council also demands that families with children in detention facilities be offered crisis intervention, legal aid and interpreters’ services.
“The approach to the ‘underage without accompaniment’ is also problematic in the Czech Republic and the council demands that the situation be redressed and common procedures of the relevant bodies be created,” Jerabkova said.
The committee for the rights of foreigners placed emphasis on decent conditions for their stay in the country. It said some groups of foreigners should not be detained, particularly those who would hardly be relocated to another EU member country because it no longer accepts foreigners.
The committee also insists on the provision of legal aid and on quitting the collection of fees for accommodation and meals from foreigners detained within the Dublin system regime.
The Government Council for Human Rights has been a consultative body of the government on the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms since 1998. It is comprised of representatives from the civil service and civic society and it has 24 members.
