Protection and alternative care for unaccompanied and separated migrant and refugee children
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 22 June 2022 (22nd sitting) (see Doc. 15548, report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and
Displaced Persons, rapporteur: Ms Mariia Mezentseva; and Doc. 15554, opinion of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health
and Sustainable Development, rapporteur: Ms Sibel Arslan). Text adopted by the Assembly on
22 June 2022 (22nd sitting).
1. The Parliamentary Assembly is alarmed
by the rapidly growing number of unaccompanied or separated migrant
or refugee children in Europe. These children have been separated
from their parents and other relatives and are not being cared for
by an adult who, by law or custom, is responsible for doing so.
However, Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS
No. 5) constitutes a positive obligation of member States to protect
private and family life, especially of unaccompanied or separated
migrant or refugee children, who are particularly vulnerable and
require greater protection.
2. The main reasons for the substantial number of children ending
up in Europe alone, often without any identification, means of subsistence
or support are poverty, armed conflicts and the climate crisis.
In recent years, most unaccompanied children have come from Afghanistan,
Syria and Bangladesh. The Assembly stresses the need for sustained
efforts to eradicate poverty and deprivation across the world; to
invest massively in peacebuilding, reconciliation and peaceful conflict
resolution; and to prioritise tackling climate change and ensuring
decent living standards for all, rather than economic growth and
profit maximisation for the few.
3. The Russian Federation’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine
has led to the dire consequence of a massive displacement of migrant
or refugee children, many of them unaccompanied or separated. As
such, they are extremely vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, and
easily fall prey to smugglers and traffickers. It is of utmost importance
and urgency that the competent authorities of Council of Europe
member States, including members of parliaments, are fully aware
of the legal obligations stemming from international and European
treaties related to the protection of unaccompanied or separated
children, including alternative care, to ensure the highest standards
of protection for these children and to ensure their best interest
in all aspects.
4. The Assembly recalls in particular the European Convention
on Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights
of the Child, to which all Council of Europe member States are party.
The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has issued
useful general comments to guide member States in its effective
implementation. The Council of Europe Convention on Protection of
Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (CETS No.
201, “the Lanzarote Convention”) and the Council of Europe Convention
on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (CETS No. 197), both
ratified by all member States, together with the revised European
Social Charter (ETS No. 163) and several non-binding texts provide
a comprehensive set of standards and guidance to build a safety
net to ensure the necessary protection to which these children are
entitled.
5. The Assembly also recalls its
Resolution 1810 (2011) “Unaccompanied
children in Europe: issues of arrival, stay and return”,
Resolution 2020 (2014) “The
alternatives to immigration detention of children”,
Recommendation 2190 (2020) “Effective
guardianship for unaccompanied and separated migrant children”, and
Resolution 2324 (2020) “Missing
refugee and migrant children in Europe” and the findings of its Parliamentary
Campaign to End Immigration Detention of Children (2015-2019), in
which the Assembly encouraged member States to adopt alternatives
to detention that are in the best interest of the child and allow children
to remain with their family members and/or guardians in non-custodial,
community-based contexts while their migration status is being decided
upon.
6. The Assembly underlines that all member States should adopt
a common approach whereby unaccompanied or separated migrant or
refugee children are, first and foremost, considered as children.
This entails ensuring that their best interest is the primary consideration,
irrespective of their migration status in the country concerned.
In this context, member States must ensure that unaccompanied or
separated migrant or refugee children benefit from:
6.1 all due child protection safeguards,
including adequate and immediate identification and registration
of their identity and legal, family and social situation;
6.2 a robust and gender-sensitive assessment of their immediate
protection, support and care needs; particular attention should
be paid to survivors of violence, abuse and human trafficking and
to children with special needs, including medical and psychological
needs;
6.3 the immediate appointment of a guardian, who will act
to protect the child’s best interest and link the child to required
services, while searching for the child’s parents and family members;
6.4 an exhaustive assessment and determination of their best
interest by their guardians, child protection services or competent
courts where necessary;
6.5 access to education; governments must provide for the
integration of unaccompanied migrant minors in the field of education,
ensure their learning process and facilitate their link with school
and with other children of their age;
6.6 child-sensitive age assessment procedures, which should
only be carried out if there are serious doubts about a person’s
age, should always be carried out in the best interest of the child
and subject to independent monitoring; the development of a single
model of age assessment in Europe, based on the presumption that
the person is a minor; systematic application of the margin of error
in favour of the person concerned, so that the lowest age in the
margin determined by the assessment is recorded as the person’s
age; and access to effective remedies.
7. Furthermore, the Assembly underlines that member States are
legally responsible for unaccompanied or separated migrant or refugee
children within their territory in accordance with Article 8 of
the European Convention on Human Rights and, therefore, should offer
solid child protection systems, which include strong co-ordination
between the competent child protection and migration bodies as well
as with other authorities and relevant civil society. Appropriate
and sustainable budgeting and investment in human and other resources
can ensure adequate and gender-sensitive protection and care.
8. The Assembly considers that the Council of Europe should facilitate
the creation of a European platform for the exchange of knowledge,
practical know-how and best practices between its member States
in the successful implementation of alternative care for unaccompanied
or separated migrant or refugee children.
9. The Assembly invites member States to respond adequately to
the needs of unaccompanied or separated migrant or refugee children
by providing them with assistance that preserves family unity and
keeps them with relatives or other caregivers. To this end, the
member States should adopt alternative care solutions as interim
measures, until the time when children can be reunited with their
family members. Therefore, member States are invited to:
9.1 create safe, legal and accessible
routes for children to reunite with their families in Europe which spare
them from long and dangerous travel alone;
9.2 adopt a legislative framework, if not already in place,
allowing the development of proactive targeted measures which address
the specific needs of unaccompanied or separated migrant or refugee children;
9.3 ensure that family reunification requests of unaccompanied
or separated migrant or refugee children are considered as a priority,
respecting the best interest of the child;
9.4 integrate asylum reception and migration systems in childcare
and protection systems, ensuring that unaccompanied or separated
migrant or refugee children have access to the same protection and care
as all other children; provide necessary funding and designate a
public authority responsible for this integration;
9.5 conduct a timely assessment of specific needs of unaccompanied
or separated migrant or refugee children, aiming to provide the
best care adapted to the case of each child;
9.6 take into account all specific aspects of the new environment
of migrant or refugee children (different languages, culture and
living conditions) when proposing a care solution for the children;
9.7 ensure that the views of migrant or refugee children in
need of alternative care are considered when identifying care arrangements
that are in their best interest;
9.8 build public support for child-friendly policies in the
field of migration, by raising awareness of the plight of unaccompanied
or separated migrant or refugee children, making full use of the
wealth of witness accounts and advocacy;
9.9 ensure that the public authority responsible for the State
system of alternative care for unaccompanied or separated children
guarantees different care options and employs a sufficient number
of well-trained specialists in providing different types of care.
It should also monitor different alternative care solutions on a
regular basis;
9.10 pay special attention to the recruitment of foster families,
ensuring their intercultural awareness, pedagogical and nurturing
experience and capacity to create a space for a child. Foster families
should also have good awareness of the asylum process and be able
to support a child through the different stages, including with
psychological support.
10. The Assembly reaffirms that when such family reintegration
is not possible, member States should develop and implement a range
of suitable quality alternative care that responds to the specific
and individual needs of unaccompanied or separated migrant or refugee
children. Recalling the United Nations Guidelines for the Alternative
Care of Children, the Assembly calls on member States to provide
the following alternative care models:
10.1 kinship care, whereby children live with an adult member
of their extended family;
10.2 foster care, whereby children are formally placed in the
domestic care of suitable adults acting as foster parents;
10.3 emergency and transit shelters, in exceptional circumstances
while the situation that caused the family separation is assessed
and addressed. If minors are placed in emergency and transit shelters, they
should not be placed together with adults.
11. Furthermore, member States should develop other family-based
care with supervised and independent living arrangements, small-group
care and, as a last resort, suitable residential care, ensuring
that the principle of non-detention is safeguarded in all of these
modalities. The UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children
should be applied when determining the necessity and suitability
of arrangements for the care of unaccompanied or separated migrant
or refugee children, in particular Part IX.
12. Finally, member States should also provide services, programmes
and measures aimed at supporting unaccompanied or separated migrant
or refugee children to transition out of care, in addition to continuing emotional
and practical support aimed at strengthening their autonomy; this
entails appropriate preparation and planning prior to leaving care,
regardless of whether the young person is staying in or leaving
the country, in combination with enhanced opportunities for integration
in the host country.
13. The Assembly underlines, as specifically regards the current
emergency situation affecting Ukrainian children, that there is
an ongoing need for member States to strengthen the co-ordinated
approach at the European level among countries of first arrival,
transit countries and host countries to ensure that children are promptly
identified, registered and do not go missing, that they benefit
from all protection safeguards and that they are placed, when determined
as necessary, in alternative care arrangements of suitable quality.
14. The security of all children, including those awaiting family
reunification and in temporary care, should be prioritised. Adoption
should not be considered in any emergency setting.
