Article 22 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child requires state parties to ensure that children who are asylum seekers or refugees receive appropriate protection and humanitarian assistance to ensure they are protected as any other child would be.
But the government has not yet ratified the position. Last summer it claimed the convention required the best interests of the child to be the first consideration and argued that immigration control had to be the primary consideration to prevent creating an additional avenue of appeal against immigration decisions that involve children.
However, on Monday the Home Office announced it would review the need for the reservation after Home Secretary Jacqui Smith unveiled plans to combat people trafficking by the end of the year.
Katy Swaine, legal director of the Children's Rights Alliance for England, said: "It's really welcome news they are going to review the reservation and ratify the convention against trafficking which is long overdue.
"But the government has a long way to go. We want to see removal of the reservation to Article 22 and we want them to end detention and give refugee and asylum seeking children the same protection under child protection legislation as any other child in the UK."
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