The rights of migrant and refugee children are insufficiently guaranteed in the Netherlands, according to the human rights group Defence for Children International.

These children appear to have fewer rights than their Dutch peers, are ill-informed about their rights and are sometimes separated from their parents. Defence for Children says that twenty years after the adoption of the UN Children's Rights treaty, the Netherlands is not a paradise for children.

The treaty's twentieth anniversary is being commemorated at several Dutch venues on Friday. In Leiden, Unicef is presenting a critical report on the state of children's rights in the Netherlands to Youth and Family Minister André Rouvoet and his colleague Bert Koenders of the Ministry of Development Co-operation, in the presence of Queen Beatrix. Children from twenty schools will be presenting her their plans to promote children's rights.

An exhibition opens in the central town of Amersfoort of portraits of schoolchildren showing which children's rights they think are most important.