When world celebrated the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (November 20, 2019), a Round Table on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Children in the Central Asian Region was organised in Shymkent, Kazakhstan as a step in campaign of ADC Memorial #CrossborderChildhood.
During the Round table participants highlighted the importance of the CRC UN approach to children in migration and shared their experience and concerns, discussing the ways to return the minors-migrants to the places of their permanent residence. The Round table gathered representatives of governmental structures, ombudspersons and representatives of the NGO’s and served as a platform for cooperation on additional instruments on children repatriation between the CIS member states. The event was well-covered by media.
The representatives of the organization Sana Sezim, Shymkent and ADC Memorial, Brussels, addressed the participants with the introductory speeches. The discussion was opened by the ombudsman of the children rights in the Kyrgyz Republic Gulnara Gamgyrchieva and Leading Specialists of the Department for the Protection of the Rights of Children, Women And Family in the KR. Subsequently, the represents of the Uzbekistan, NGO IstiqbolliAvlod, shared the legal base of the temporary detention center for minors in Uzbeksitan and presented the insight into Uzbekistan practice of the returning minors to the country of origin. The way to support children in migration adopted in Kazakhstan was presented by the Head of the Department for Family, Children and Youth Affairs from Shymkent. The important contributions to the discussion were also made by Saule Ongarbaeva who works in the temporary detention center for minors in Shymkent. Gaziza Gaicanbayeva spoke about the experience of her organization Rodnik (Spring) in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on providing migrants families with children the documents needed for crossing the borders on the way home.
The International Round Table in Shymkent as a part of the campaign #CrossborderChildhood was conduced by admitting a need for a new instrument on children repatriation between the CIS member states and proposing prepare the bilateral agreement between CIS countries in order to address the best interests of children and international norms and regulations.