Unaccompanied Children in European Migration and Asylum Practices

Unaccompanied Children in European Migration and Asylum Practices
Author: Mateja Sedmak
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2017-07-06
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1317275373

Unaccompanied minor migrants are underage migrants, who for various reasons leave their country and are separated from their parents or legal/customary guardians. Some of them live entirely by themselves, while others join their relatives or other adults in a foreign country. The concept of the best interests of a child is widely applied in international, national legal documents and several guidelines and often pertains to unaccompanied minor migrants given that they are separated from parents, who are not able to exercise their basic parental responsibilities. This book takes an in-depth look at the issues surrounding the best interests of the child in relation to unaccompanied minor migrants drawing on social, legal and political sciences in order to understand children’s rights not only as a matter of positive law but mainly as a social practice depending on personal biographies, community histories and social relations of power. The book tackles the interpretation of the rights of the child and the best interests principle in the case of unaccompanied minor migrants in Europe at political, legal and practical levels. In its first part the book considers theoretical aspects of children’s rights and the best interests of the child in relation to unaccompanied minor migrants. Adopting a critical approach to the implementation of the Convention of Rights of a Child authors nevertheless confirm its relevance for protecting minor migrants’ rights in practice. Authors deconstruct power relations residing within the discourses of children’s rights and best interests, demonstrating that these rights are constructed and decided upon by those in power who make decisions on behalf of those who do not possess authority. Authors further on explore normative and methodological aspects of Article 3 of the Convention on the Rights of a Child and its relevance for asylum and migration legislation. The second part of the book goes on to examine the actual legal framework related to unaccompanied minor migrants and implementation of children’s’ rights and their best interests in the reception, protection, asylum and return procedures. The case studies are based on from the empirical research, on interviews with key experts and unaccompanied minor migrants in Austria, France, Slovenia and United Kingdom. Examining age assessment procedures, unaccompanied minors’ survivals strategies and their everyday life in reception centres the contributors point to the discrepancy between the states’ obligations to take the best interest of the child into account when dealing with unaccompanied minor migrants, and the lack of formal procedures of best interest determination in practice. The chapters expose weaknesses and failures of institutionalized systems in selected European countries in dealing with unaccompanied children and young people on the move.

Undocumented and Unaccompanied

Undocumented and Unaccompanied
Author: Cecilia Menjívar
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 140
Release: 2021-11-29
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1000505901

This book focuses on the migration of undocumented minors arriving recently to the United States and the European Union, flows that are often labeled ‘undocumented’, ‘illegal’, or ‘irregular’ and due to their sudden increase, they have been described in the media, policy circles, and scholarly work as a ‘surge’ or a ‘crisis’. Leading scholars examine the intricacies of the contexts that these minors encounter in the localities where they arrive, including the legal and ethical frameworks for protecting unaccompanied minors, governmental decisions about the ‘best interests’ of the children, these minors’ expressions of their own best interests or agency as they navigate immigration and social service systems, conditions in detention centers, and the health and social service needs in receiving communities. Though definitions and techniques for counting unaccompanied migrant minors differ between the U.S. and the EU, this book underscores the immigrant minors’ common vulnerabilities and strategies they adopt to protect themselves and improve their circumstances. At the same time, contributors to the volume highlight common challenges that both European and U.S. governments face as they develop policy strategies and legal mechanisms to attempt to balance the best interests of these children with national interests of the countries in which they settle. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.

Family reunification for refugee and migrant children

Family reunification for refugee and migrant children
Author: Florence Boreil
Publisher: Council of Europe
Total Pages: 92
Release:
Genre: Political Science
ISBN:

A practical guide to assist legislators and legal practitioners in facilitating the reunification of refugee and migrant children with their families As a result of the sharp increase in the refugee and migrant population in recent years, many children and their families have experienced family separation. Member states are bound by various obligations related to family reunification, and the practical reunification of refugee and migrant children with their family members has proved complex. This handbook is a practical guide both to key legal standards and to promising practices in the field of family reunification and restoring family links. This publication is conceived as a point of reference for capacity-building material, technical assistance, co-operation projects and new practices for and with relevant authorities and institutions. It focuses on the reunification of families with children in the context of international migration, and in particular on reunification possibilities for unaccompanied and separated refugee and migrant children. It presents an overview of legal principles of human rights, children’s rights, refugee law and EU law relevant to family reunification and then discusses key features of family reunification procedures, with promising examples of law and practice and relevant applicable standards. The handbook contributes to achieving the objectives of the Action Plan on Protecting Refugee and Migrant Children in Europe (2017-2019).

Migrating Alone

Migrating Alone
Author: Jyothi Kanics
Publisher: UNESCO
Total Pages: 207
Release: 2010-01-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 923104091X

The essays that make up this book examine the question of child migration from legal, sociological and anthropological angles, examining the situation in both countries of origin and receiving countries.--Publisher's description.

Childhood and Migration in Europe

Childhood and Migration in Europe
Author: Allen White
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Total Pages: 372
Release: 2012-12-28
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1409492885

Childhood and Migration in Europe explores the under-researched and often misunderstood worlds of migrant children and young people, drawing on extensive empirical research with children and young people from diverse migrant backgrounds living in a rapidly changing European society. Through in-depth exploration and analysis of the experiences of children who moved to Ireland in the first decade of the 21st century, it addresses the tendency of migration research and policy to overlook the presence of children in migratory flows. Challenging dominant adult-centric perspectives on contemporary global migration flows and presenting understandings of the lives of migrant children and young people from their own experiences, this book presents a detailed exploration of children's lives in four different migrant populations in Ireland. With a unique comparative perspective, Childhood and Migration in Europe advances upon current conceptualisations of migration and integration by interrogating accepted views of migrant children and focusing on children's own voices and experiences. It challenges the prevailing assimilationist discourses underlying much existing research and policy, which often construct migrant children as deficient in different ways and in need of 'being integrated'.

Child Migration and Biopolitics

Child Migration and Biopolitics
Author: Beatrice Scutaru
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 219
Release: 2020-07-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 0429756542

This book provides a fresh interdisciplinary analysis into the lives of migrant children and youth over the course of the twentieth century and up to the present day. Adopting biopolitics as a theoretical framework, the authors examine the complex interplay of structures, contexts and relations of power which influence the evolution of child migration across national borders. The volume also investigates children’s experiences, views, priorities and expectations and their roles as active agents in their own migration. Using a great variety of methodologies (archival research, ethnographic observation, interviews) and sources (drawings, documents produced by governments and experts, films and press), the authors provide richly documented case studies which cover a wide geographical area within Europe, both West (Belgium, France, Germany) and East (Romania, Russia, Ukraine), South (Italy, Portugal, Turkey) and North (Sweden), enabling a deep understanding of the diversity of migrant childhoods in the European context.

Migrant Children in Europe

Migrant Children in Europe
Author: G.G. Valtolina
Publisher: IOS Press
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2013-03-05
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1614992053

The rights of children are outlined in article 24 of the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union; the binding catalogue of rights which institutions and member states are bound to respect when applying EU law. Although this article has undoubtedly been taken very seriously since the Charter was adopted in 2000, there are indications that in a number of cases it has not been possible for children in the EU to exercise fully the rights it envisaged. One such case involves migrating Romanian children, and concerns have been expressed that the rights of this group of migrant children have not always been fully taken into account. This book is the result of the two-year project "Children’s rights in Action", funded by the European Union, which focuses on the needs of children migrating from Romania to Italy and Spain in order to identify good practices, reduce their vulnerability and protect their rights. The book presents the impact that limited access to the rights guaranteed by EU law have had on the actual conditions of life for Romanian children in migration across Europe. Although the book shows that the rights enshrined in article 24 of the EU Charter are not yet fully and equally ensured in some EU countries, it also describes the ways in which local communities and civil society actors have often operated to fill the gap and enabled such children to exercise their rights despite legislative and political shortcomings.

Protecting Migrant Children

Protecting Migrant Children
Author: Mary Crock
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 553
Release: 2018-09-28
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1786430266

Unprecedented numbers of children are crossing international borders seeking safety. Framed around compelling case studies explaining why children are on the move in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania, this book explores the jurisprudence and processes used by nations to adjudicate children’s protection claims. The book includes contributions from leading scholars in immigration, refugee law, children’s rights and human trafficking which critically examine the strengths and weaknesses of international and domestic laws with the aim of identifying best practice for migrant children.

The Rights of Unaccompanied Minors

The Rights of Unaccompanied Minors
Author: Yvonne Vissing
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022-07-24
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9783030755966

This volume explores the various challenges faced by ​migrant unaccompanied children, using a clinical sociological approach and a global perspective. It applies a human rights and comparative framework to examine ​the reception of unaccompanied children ​in European, North American, South American, Asian and African countries. Some of the important issues the volume discusses are: access of displaced unaccompanied children to justice across borders and juridical contexts; voluntary guardianship for unaccompanied children; the diverse but complementary needs of unaccompanied children in care, which if left unaddressed can have serious implications on their social integration in the host societies; and the detention of migrant children as analyzed against the most recent European and international human rights law standards. This is a one-of-a-kind volume bringing together perspectives from child rights policy chairs across the world on a global issue. The contributions reflect the authors’ diverse cultural contexts and academic and professional backgrounds, and hence, this volume synthesizes theory with practice through rich firsthand experiences, along with theoretical discussions. It is addressed not only to academics and professionals working on and with migrant children, but also to a wider, discerning public interested in a better understanding of the rights of unaccompanied children.

Children on the Move

Children on the Move
Author: Mike Dottridge
Publisher: UN
Total Pages: 118
Release: 2013
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN:

Millions of children are on the move, both within and between countries, with or without their parents. The conditions under which movement takes place are often treacherous, putting migrant children, especially unaccompanied and separated children, at an increased risk of economic or sexual exploitation, abuse, neglect and violence. Policy responses to protect and support these migrant children are often fragmented and inconsistent and while children on the move have become a recognised part of today's global and mixed migration flows they are still largely invisible in debates on both child protection and migration.