Policy & advocacy briefings
A call for renewed commitment to solidarity and action to protect children in migration at EU borders. On the occasion of the upcoming Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting, Child Circle, Safe Passage and Save the Children on behalf of 22 leading human rights groups issued a joint statement which urges the EU institutions and Member States to use existing responsibility sharing mechanisms, including voluntary relocation and family reunion procedures, to ease tensions at various borders and bring children and families to safety at the onset of winter. (Dec 2021)
Relocation from Greece: lessons learned and looking ahead, joint NGO briefing paper. As the voluntary EU scheme is scheduled to come to an end, 29 civil society organizations call for the continuation of relocation from the country. This briefing paper, based on the organizations’ experiences both in Greece and in destination countries, offers their perspective on how to improve the process and outcomes for those being relocated, particularly for unaccompanied children. (Nov 2021)
Making proposed EU measures concerning migrant children at the EU external border more child-centred and child-sensitive. Child Circle and Kids in Need of Defense (“KIND”) (February 2021)
Concerns for the protection of children under the EU Asylum & Migration Pact: initial messages from Child Circle and Kids in Need of Defense (“KIND”)
Briefing Paper and recommendations on unaccompanied children at the EU borders: Child Circle and Kids in Need of Defense (“KIND”) share a summary of core recommendations on what measures should be in place at the EU borders as regards unaccompanied children. From the border onwards, States should fulfil the obligation to identify, protect and assist these children, and find durable solutions in their best interests. In particular, the paper focuses on recommendations to ensure access for these children to essential procedural safeguards, including quality legal assistance and representation.
Keeping the Child’s Best Interests at the Heart of Relocation: Key recommendations for EU action concerning the ongoing initiative to relocate unaccompanied children from Greece, developed by Child Circle and Missing Children Europe with support from the Initiative on Children in Migration.
Child Circle Statement C441 19 welcoming the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Case C 441/19
Child Circle Return Directive observations Case C 441 19- redacted on the requirements of the Return Directive concerning the manner in which return decisions relating to unaccompanied children should be taken and enforced, in Case C 441/19.
Reports & publications
Within the European Union, unaccompanied children seeking international protection need safe and legal pathways between Member States in a number of circumstances, in particular, for family reunion, or to reach protection and assistance through relocation from countries of first entry.. Transnational procedures underpinning these pathways embody the Member States’ human rights obligations to respect family life and the best interests of the children concerned, as well as a commitment to provide special protection and assistance to unaccompanied children and to enhance solidarity between States. There is both an urgent need, and a real opportunity to take concerted action to facilitate and improve these transnational procedures.
Read the Executive Summary here
Read the full report here
The new EU Migration and Asylum Pact commits to strengthening laws to “protect and safeguard” unaccompanied children, but it also introduces proposals that could harm children and undermine their best interests. KIND and Child Circle’s report provides recommendations on how the EU can make its commitment to protect unaccompanied children a reality.
At the heart of our recommendations is that free quality legal assistance is a central safeguard for the protection of unaccompanied children. It should be available to all unaccompanied children for all relevant procedures affecting them and best interests procedures should be improved and justiciable. Furthermore, in restricted settings and in complex procedures, which pose acute risks to children, namely at borders and in transnational procedures involving transfers of children between countries, quality legal assistance should be actively facilitated and supported by authorities.
Putting children’s rights at the heart of decision-making in cases involving children on the move: gathering momentum in Europe The European Child Rights Helpdesk celebrates World Children’s Day 2020 with this new report, led by Child Circle. The Helpdesk partnership experience supporting children on the move shows the need for child-centred and child-friendly procedures, information, and qualified legal assistance to effectively claim all of their rights as children
Guidance, tools and training
Guidance on children’s_rights_in_return_policies (2019): Focus on the EU legal framework
Spotlight on the EU: EU laws, policies and procedures concerning children in migration
Strengthening guardianship of unaccompanied children: ProGuard Assessment standards and training concerning guardians for unaccompanied children
Prevention, response and care of missing unaccompanied children: The SUMMIT Handbook aims to stimulate and disseminate practices on how to better cooperate in prevention, response and after care of missing unaccompanied children. (April 2016) Read more about the SUMMIT
Training materials for legal and social professionals involved in justice proceedings concerning separated children, see the Separated Children in Judicial Proceedings project.
UPRIGHTS, ‘UPHOLDING LEGAL RIGHTS FOR UNACCOMPANIED CHILDREN: Fostering Quality Legal Assistance in the Asylum Procedure’ led by ECRE, contributions from Child Circle