Press release by the Forum for Human Rights and the Organisation for Aid to Refugees
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has ruled on the case of an Afghan family who were detained in Czech immigration detention for more than a month in 2019. It found that their detention violated the child’s right to liberty and the right to protection from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. This is the first decision of its kind against the Czech Republic and only the third case in which the Committee has addressed the immigration detention of children since its establishment. The decision may also provide guidance for similar cases in the future, not only in the Czech Republic but worldwide. The Czech Constitutional Court is also expected to address the issue of immigration detention of children in the coming months (Case No. I. ÚS 800/25, II. ÚS 1287/25 and IV. ÚS 1487/25).
The family belongs to the Sikh religious minority. In Afghanistan, the Taliban repeatedly pressured them to convert and threatened to abduct their underage daughters. The family therefore fled to Austria in 2016 and applied for international protection. However, even after more than three years, they had received no response from the Austrian authorities. They were also living in inadequate conditions in container accommodation, where their daughters were unable to pursue their education properly. In spring 2019, the family decided to leave Austria. Police found them in an unmaintained house near the German border, where smugglers had held them for several days. The police subsequently placed the family in a closed immigration detention facility pending arrangements for their return to Austria. Under EU law, Austria was responsible for examining their asylum application. At the time of their detention, one daughter was just 11 years old, while the other was between 17 and 18. The family spent a total of 34 days in detention, despite having agreed to return to Austria from the outset. The family was subsequently granted international protection in Austria. They repeatedly challenged their immigration detention before Czech courts, but their claims were dismissed.
“We are pleased that the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has once again confirmed that the immigration detention of children is an inappropriate and harmful practice. We see this decision as a clear signal to the Czech Republic and the EU that this practice must be abandoned. Unfortunately, the new rules introduced by the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum continue to provide for the immigration detention of children,”
says Zuzana Pavelková from the Organisation for Aid to Refugees.
“In many cases, detention is also entirely unnecessary. The family cooperated with the Czech authorities throughout this case. Once it had been explained to them that they had to await the outcome of their asylum proceedings in Austria, they regretted their actions. They repeatedly requested that their transfer be arranged as quickly as possible. Instead of detaining them, the Foreign Police could therefore have used alternatives to detention already available under Czech law, such as placing the family in an open reception facility,”
says Alexandra Matiaško from Forum for Human Rights.
“The decision of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child is significant not only for the Czech Republic but also in the broader international context. For the first time, the Committee has found a violation of the prohibition of ill-treatment in connection with the detention of families with children and stated that detention is always harmful to children.”
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child is the UN body responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Czech Republic ratified the Convention in 1991 and recognised the Committee’s competence to examine individual complaints alleging violations of the Convention in 2015. The Committee examines complaints concerning violations of the Convention, interprets its provisions through General Comments, and issues recommendations to States on how to fulfil their obligations under the Convention as effectively as possible. For more than ten years, the Committee has repeatedly stated in its recommendations that the immigration detention of children is incompatible with the Convention. In 2021, it urged the Czech Republic to put an end to this practice altogether.
The Committee adopted its decision at its meeting on 14 September 2026 and sent its findings to the complainants on 6 October 2026. It has given the Czech Republic until 6 April 2027 to report on the measures taken to implement its findings.
The Organisation for Aid to Refugees and Forum for Human Rights supported the family in bringing the complaint, with assistance from the attorney Maroš Matiaško. Last year, these organisations also supported three other families in filing constitutional complaints before the Czech Constitutional Court (Case Nos. I. ÚS 800/25, II. ÚS 1287/25 and IV. ÚS 1487/25). The Constitutional Court is expected to consider these cases in the coming months. It may strike down problematic provisions of the Act on the Residence of Foreign Nationals.
The decision is available upon request.
Further resources:
- Constitutional Court judgment in the complainants’ case.
- Supreme Administrative Court judgment: .
- Regional Court in Ústí nad Labem judgment:
- Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on the Czech Republic, 4 August 2011:
- Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on the Czech Republic, 22 October 2021:
Media contact:
Zuzana Pavelková
Organizace pro pomoc uprchlíkům
zuzana.pavelkova@opu.cz
+420 732 236 799
Alexandra Matiaško
Fórum pro lidská práva
dubova@forumhr.eu
+420 725 548 872
