The Internment of Children under the Immigration Control Act and Human Dignity

The Immigration Control Act requires undocumented children subject to a deportation order to be interned until the repatriation is possible. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the internment of foreign children under the Immigration Control Act violates the human dignity rights under Article 10 of the Constitution. Since children are still physically and mentally immature and are therefore in a vulnerable position compared to adults, the Constitution Law orders special protection for children. However, if the internment conditions of a child under Immigration Control are severe enough and are below minimum survival conditions, such internment conditions infringe on the child's human dignity. As a key indicator of the severity of internment conditions, it is possible to consider whether the internment form is appropriate for children, whether the per capita area in a detention room is too narrow for children, and whether outdoor exercise and outdoor activities are guaranteed every day. In fact, current norms regarding internment in immigration administration do not guarantee that children are interned in detention rooms that are appropriate for them. Opportunities such as outdoor exercise and activities appropriate for children are not guaranteed every day. As a result, children can be interned in closed detention rooms with iron bars with in the same space alongside adults who are strangers to them, and outdoor exercise and activity hours appropriate for their age cannot be guaranteed on a daily basis. This way, considering the norms on internment in immigration administration that allow children to be subjected to severe internment conditions without considering their vulnerabilities and the severe reality of internment that occurs accordingly, the internment clause for repatriation under the Immigration Control Act seems to treat children as simple objects for immigration administrative. Therefore, the internment clause under Immigration Control Act is assessed to infringe on the human dignity of a child.