Concluding Observations on the Combined Fourth to Sixth Periodic Reports of Paraguay

Asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant children

44. Welcoming the high number of recognized refugees from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and recalling the joint general comments No. 3 and No. 4 of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families/No. 22 and No. 23 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (2017) on the human rights of children in the context of international migration, the Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Adopt standard operating procedures and protocols for the asylum and migration authorities to ensure timely effective safeguards for access to the territory and to asylum for those children and their families in need of international protection and to prevent refoulement in a context marked by mixed migration flows;

(b) Ensure that new arrivals have access to information on the asylum procedure, receive assistance and have access to reception facilities and other support or referrals, ensure that asylum claims submitted at the border are handled in accordance with due process and establish relevant protocols for and provide training on international protection to migration and asylum authorities, the police and other protection actors operating in border areas;

(c) Ensure that migration officers and border officers respect the right of children to seek asylum and the principle of non-refoulement without discrimination and apply an age-sensitive approach that considers the needs of children;

(d) Strengthen child protection mechanisms by providing the authorities with the appropriate technical and material resources to duly respond to cases of unaccompanied or separated children in need of international protection, ensuring that their interventions are carried out in a timely manner and in accordance with the law;

(e) Put in place the regulation that is necessary for the full implementation of Act No. 1938/2002 so that unaccompanied and separated children receive favourable treatment, including family reunification, free legal representation and local integration.