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1. The health, including the mental health, of applicants in detention who have special reception needs shall be of primary concern to national authorities. Where the detention of applicants with special reception needs would put their physical and mental health at serious risk, those applicants shall not be detained. Where applicants with special reception needs are detained, Member States shall ensure regular monitoring of, and the provision of timely and adequate support to, those applicants, taking into account their particular situation, including their physical and mental health.

2. Minors shall, as a rule, not be detained. They shall be placed in suitable accommodation in accordance with Articles 26 and 27. Adequate alternatives to detention shall, as a rule, be used for families with minors in accordance with the principle of family unity. Such families shall be placed in accommodation suitable for them. In exceptional circumstances, as a measure of last resort and after it has been established that other less coercive alternative measures cannot be applied effectively, and after detention is assessed to be in their best interests in accordance with Article 26, minors may be detained:

(a) in the case of accompanied minors, where the minor’s parent or primary care-giver is detained; or (b) in the case of unaccompanied minors, where detention safeguards the minor. Such detention shall be for the shortest possible period of time. Minors shall never be detained in prison or another facility used for law enforcement purposes. All efforts shall be made to release minors from detention and place them in accommodation suitable for minors. The best interests of the child, as referred to in Article 26, shall be a primary consideration for Member States. Where minors are detained, they shall have the right to education in accordance with Article 16, unless the provision of education is of limited value to them due to the very short period of their detention. Those minors shall also have the possibility to engage in leisure activities, including play and recreational activities appropriate to their age.

3. Where unaccompanied minors are detained, they shall be accommodated in facilities adapted to the housing of unaccompanied minors. Such facilities shall be provided with staff qualified to safeguard the rights of unaccompanied minors and attend to their needs. Where unaccompanied minors are detained, Member States shall ensure that they are accommodated separately from adults.

4. Detained families shall be provided with separate accommodation that guarantees adequate privacy. Detained families with minors shall be accommodated in detention facilities adapted to the needs of minors.

5. Member States shall ensure that detained male and female applicants are accommodated separately, unless those detained applicants are family members and all individuals concerned consent to be accommodated together. Exceptions to the first subparagraph may also apply to the use of common spaces designed for recreational or social activities, including the provision of meals.

6. Where the applicant is detained at a border post or in a transit zone, with the exception of the cases referred to in Article 43 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1348, Member States may derogate from paragraph 3, first subparagraph, paragraph 4 and paragraph 5, first subparagraph, in duly justified cases and for a reasonable period of time, that shall be as short as possible. Member States shall have sufficient facilities and resources in place to ensure that they apply the derogations provided for in this paragraph only in exceptional situations. When applying those derogations, Member States shall inform the Commission and the Asylum Agency thereof.