Unaccompanied Children fleeing Ukraine: briefing note on responses within the EU

Unaccompanied children fleeing Ukraine are arriving in the EU in very precarious situations. This paper serves as a resource for stakeholders working together to put robust safeguards in place.

It is evident that the scale and pace, and potentially long lasting nature, of the situation leads to huge difficulties in organising comprehensive responses from a legal, policy, and practical perspective. Clearly, lack of shared information, and lack of connection between the different actors, places already vulnerable children at further risk..

This briefing note is intended to serve the range of stakeholders working together under a common framework of EU measures by providing an overview of the different circumstances in which unaccompanied children fleeing Ukraine might arrive in Europe and outlining the different rules that will apply to their situation. It describes the procedural difficulties they may encounter and sets out critical areas for action. The urgent need for responses (and limitations in resources) demands immediate and temporary arrangements. Nonetheless, alongside supporting humanitarian emergency responses, stakeholders must work together on the development of tools and resources that assist the child protection system’s ability to respond to all of the issues and risks these children face, in the immediate and longer term. We focus on how to strengthen the safeguards available for unaccompanied children and support the path towards sustainable arrangements.

When suggesting practical avenues for support, we point to existing building blocks for action. Ongoing developments under the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, the EU Anti-Trafficking Strategy, and the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child, as well as past experience in Kosovo, Italy and Greece can be built on, from an urgent and intensely practical perspective.

Moreover, the necessary tools to respond to the situation will have an application beyond the situation of unaccompanied children arriving from Ukraine and should also be deployed immediately for other unaccompanied children who may be in deplorable situations in Europe at this time, including at the Belarussian border and Greek islands.

The paper concludes with guiding principles for how stakeholders can act together, including by increasing transparency, developing procedures, harnessing additional capacity, and promoting collaboration both nationally and across borders.