Updated - Government reacts as Commissioner raises concerns about the welfare of migrant children

Updated - Adds government reaction - The Commissioner for Children, Helen D'Amato, said today that she wrote to the Minister of Home Affairs last Tuesday, underscoring the rights of migrant children, when reports of a possible pushback policy emerged. In a statement, the commissioner highlighted the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child that Malta ratified in 1990. "The rights of children are fundamental and universal. This means that these rights have no boundaries and that children carry their rights with them wherever they go irrespective of their status. Moreover, the responsibility for the realization of these rights lies with the state in whose jurisdiction the children may happen to be." She said that in view reports in the media that Government was considering a pushback, the Office of the Commissioner for Children formally expressed its concern to the Minister for Home Affairs and National Security in a letter dated July 9. She had argued that such a policy was in violation, amongst others, of Article 22 of the said Convention, which guarantees the right of “a child seeking refugee status….to receive appropriate protection and humanitarian assistance…”, and...