An influential Dutch advisory committee is urging the government to make sure that minors do not get locked up in police cells if they are suspected of a crime.

Currently children over the age of 11 can be locked in a police cell pending questioning, and if a serious crime is involved, can be held for up to three days.

According to the Council for the Administration of Criminal Justice and Protection of Juveniles, in 2018, over 21,600 minors were held in police custody for a short time and 4,675 were held for longer periods.

The RSJ says the government should amend the law to make sure that children are only locked in a cell if they are an immediate danger either to themselves or others, and then for no more than 24 hours.

Police stations should also be equipped with child-friendly cells and there should be better training for police officers to deal with minors, the organisation says.

Last year the Dutch children’s ombudsman Margrite Kalverboer also called for a end to the way children are being locked up.

‘Sixteen-year-olds have been locked up in a cell all night for a minor offence, without being able to talk to their parents or a lawyer,’ she said in April. ‘They are primarily seen as suspects and treated as such. The fact that they are children is often forgotten.’