At long last, all children in UK to get same protection, says Euro-MP

3.25.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 19th Sep 2008

Local Euro-MP Liz Lynne has welcomed the news that next week, the Government is to finally fully ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, saying at long last all children in the UK will have the same protection as they do in the rest of the EU.

The convention obliges signatories to put the best interests of children first, but since conditionally ratifying in 1991, the UK has maintained an opt-out allowing child migrants and child asylum seekers to be locked up without judicial scrutiny. No other EU Member State felt it necessary to do the same.

Liz Lynne, who is Vice President of the Employment and Social Affairs Committee in the European Parliament and has long campaigned on equality issues, said:

"It is a relief rather than a cause for celebration that finally the Convention will be ratified in full, but it is a scandal that it has taken so long to get this done. The UK is the only EU Member State that did not unreservedly sign this Convention in the early 1990s and is one of very few countries in the world to object to its content.

"To have originally expressed reservations, saying some children are more equal than others, put us for 17 years between most of the world and the likes of the US and Somalia on children's rights. This is a damning indictment, but at least we are finally making up for lost time.

"Locking up and criminalising child migrants, some of whom may be the victims of human trafficking, is horrifying and not the hallmark of a civilised society - hopefully it will now become a thing of the past."

ENDS

The 2002 report of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed concerns about the UK's situation, including the welfare of children in custody, unequal treatment of asylum seekers, and the negative impact of poverty on children's rights.

Liz Lynne has been campaigning for several years on anti-discrimination. Recently her report on progress made in anti-discrimination measures was adopted by the European Parliament: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A6-2008-0159&language=EN