Government fails on rights, study finds

The government is continuing to breach children’s human rights
in England despite accepting the UN Convention on the Rights of the
Child in 1991, according to research.

The study, from the Secretariat of the Children’s Rights Alliance
for England, a coalition of more than 230 organisations, highlights
the youth justice system and arrangements for asylum-seeking
children as key areas of concern.

Jaap Doek, chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child,
called on the government to increase its efforts to implement the
convention and improve the plight of children in custody.

The government denied that its policies on juvenile justice and
immigration breached the convention.

• State of Children’s Rights in England 2004 from www.crae.org.uk