Unaccompanied children: who they are?
The “unaccompanied children” or “unaccompanied minors” are girls and boys up 18 years old who have been separated from either parents or other relatives and are not in the care of an adult who by law or custom is responsible for childcare. The unaccompanied and separated children are entitled to international protection according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva Convention of 1951, and the Convention on the Rights of Child, among others. Due to the characteristics of extreme vulnerability of this group is essential to develop appropriate structures for the reception of refugee children in all member states.
The report aims to highlight standards and practices that aim to improve knowledge on the right to asylum for unaccompanied children in Europe. The report notes that foreign unaccompanied minors without legal representation are present in the 27 countries of the European Union. Like adult asylum seekers, most of these young people fled conflict and persecution they suffered in their countries of origin: recruitment of minors, trafficking of children for prostitution, sexual exploitation, female genital mutilation, child labor- these are some of the rezones por las que these children are seeking asylum and protection in Europe. The European Union is highly affected by this issue as it currently hosts about 74% of unaccompanied minors seeking asylum – states the report.
Report is available in English here: http://www.france-terre-asile.org/toutes-les-actualites-zoom-sur/item/7567-le-droit-a-demander-lasile-des-mineurs-isoles-etrangers-dans-lunion-europeenne , and it is will be also available soon in Latvian.
Recall, September 17, 2012 in Paris took a place firs dissemination event under the project “Right to asylum for unaccompanied minors in the EU”.
Rasa Saliņa
PR specialist and consultant
rasa.salina@gmail.com