COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Implementation of the Action Plan on UAMs (2010-2014) Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT The protection of children in migration
Date: 2017-04-12
Institutions: Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, EU migration policy, aid to refugees, child, child protection, children's rights, foreign national, illegal migration, migrant, right of asylum

EN 

   EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 12.4.2017  SWD(2017) 129 final   COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Implementation of the Action Plan on UAMs (2010-2014) Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  The protection of children in migration   {COM(2017) 211 final}  
 
 
Contents 

I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 3 

II. DATA COLLECTION ................................................................................................... 4 

II.1 Actions at EU level ............................................................................................... 4 
(a) Collection of data at EU level under the Statistics Regulation .................... 4 
(b) EU Agencies and networks .......................................................................... 7 
II.2 Actions in EU Member States ............................................................................ 11 

III. PREVENTION OF UNSAFE MIGRATION AND  TRAFFICKING IN HUMAN 

BEINGS .................................................................................................................... 14 

III.1   Prevention ........................................................................................................ 15 
(a) Funding ...................................................................................................... 15 
(b) Relation with Third Countries ................................................................... 22 
(c)Addressing trafficking in human beings ..................................................... 24 
(d) Visa applications submitted on behalf of children .................................... 31 

IV. RECEPTION AND PROCEDURAL GUARANTEES IN THE EU ......................... 31 

IV.1 Procedures at first arrival and standards of protection ...................................... 32 
(a) Legislative action at EU level .................................................................... 32 
(b) Guidance from the EU Agencies ............................................................... 34 
(c) Border-related measures regarding unaccompanied children .................... 36 
(d) Age assessment .......................................................................................... 38 
(c) Funding ...................................................................................................... 39 
(e) Children going missing .............................................................................. 40 
IV. 2  Relocation ....................................................................................................... 44 
IV.3 Safeguards for unaccompanied children in judicial proceedings ...................... 45 
IV.4 EU Financial support provided ......................................................................... 47 
IV.5 Actions in the EU Member States for ensuring protection of unaccompanied 

children ............................................................................................................ 58 

V. FINDING DURABLE SOLUTIONS .......................................................................... 61 

V.I Family tracing ..................................................................................................... 62 
V.2   Return and reintegration in the country of origin ............................................ 63 
(a) Funding ...................................................................................................... 63 
(b) Legislative monitoring ............................................................................... 66 
(c) Detention .................................................................................................... 68 

V.3  International  protection  status,  other  legal  status  and  integration  of 

unaccompanied children .................................................................................. 71 
(a) Funding ...................................................................................................... 72 
V.4 Resettlement ....................................................................................................... 76 

2 

 
 
 
 
I. INTRODUCTION 

Protecting unaccompanied migrant children and ensuring that their best interests are respected 
has  been  a  priority  for  the  Commission  over  the  last  decade.  The  Action  Plan  on 
Unaccompanied  Minors  (2010  –  2014)1  ('the  Action  Plan')  was  designed  to  provide  a 
comprehensive framework for the concrete responses to the challenges posed by the arrival of 
unaccompanied children on EU territory.   

In  September  2012,  the  Commission  issued  a  Mid-term  Report  on  the  Action  Plan  on 
Unaccompanied  Minors2  highlighting  the  developments  between  May  2010  and  June  2012 
and  identifying  the  areas  which  required  more  attention  and  targeted  action  during  the 
following years.  

The  migratory  crisis  has  exacerbated  the  challenges  posed  by  the  arrival  to  the  EU  of 
vulnerable migrants, and in particular of migrant children, including the unaccompanied ones. 
The European Agenda on Migration3 and the Communication of February 2016 on the state of 
play in  its implementation4  indicate that  the protection  of migrant  minors,  and especially of 
the  unaccompanied  ones,  is  a  priority  for  the  EU.  The  overall  increase  of  the  number  of 
migrant minors, including unaccompanied ones, calls for a comprehensive approach to their 
protection.  

This  Staff  Working  Document  ('SWD')  provides  an  overview  of  what  was  achieved  in  the 
implementation of the Action Plan over the period from mid-2012 to end 2014,5 and of some 
of the key developments that occurred in the main areas covered by the Action Plan in 2015 
and 2016. The structure of the SWD follows the four main lines of action that were identified 
in the Action Plan: data collection; prevention of unsafe migration and trafficking; reception 
and procedural guarantees in the EU, and finding durable solutions. 

For actions implemented at EU level, the document is based on information provided by the 
European Commission, the European External Action Service (EEAS), and EU Agencies – in 
particular  the  European  Asylum  Support  Office  (EASO),  the  European  Union  Agency  for 
Fundamental  Rights  (FRA)  and  European  Border  and  Coast  Guard  Agency  (EBCGA). 
Concerning developments which have taken place in the Member States, the SWD relies on 
information  available  in  the  Study  by  the  European  Migration  Network  (EMN)  of  2015  on 
“Policies, Practices and Data on Unaccompanied Minors” (‘the 2015 EMN Study’),6 and on 
information  facilitated  by  some  Member  States  (Austria,  Belgium,  Bulgaria,  the  Czech 
Republic,  Greece,  Spain,  Hungary,  Ireland,  Italy,  Malta,  the  Netherlands,  Poland,  Portugal, 
Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, and the Slovak Republic) for 2015, and by the Commission and 
the EU Agencies (EASO, FRA, Frontex) for 2016. 

The  2015  EMN  Study  provided  a  comparative  analysis  of  Member  States’  policies  and 
practices to safeguard unaccompanied children from the moment they are intercepted on the 

1  COM(2010) 213 final 
2  COM(2012) 554 final 
3  COM(2015) 240 final. 
4  COM(2016) 85 final.   
5    The period between May 2010 and June 2012 was covered by the Mid-term Report on the implementation of 

the Action plan on Unaccompanied Minors – COM (2012) 554 final – available at 
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/e-library/docs/uam/uam_report_20120928_en.pdf. 

6    http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/networks/european_migration_network/reports/docs/emn-      
studies/emn_study_policies_practices_and_data_on_unaccompanied_minors_in_the_eu_member_states_and_
norway_synthesis_report_final_eu_2015.pdf. 

3 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
EU  territory  and  until  when  a  durable  solution  has  been  found  for  them.  The  Study 
distinguishes  (where  possible)  between  unaccompanied  children  applying  and  those  not 
applying  for  international  protection,  including  those  who  entered  irregularly  and  child 
victims of trafficking. It also covered the issues of unaccompanied children who abscond or 
go  missing,  and  arrangements  to  support  the  transition  to  adulthood  for  unaccompanied 
children turning 18 years of age. The Study highlighted good practices in the Member States, 
but also pointed to gaps and challenges that still need to be addressed in order to ensure that 
all  unaccompanied  children,  regardless  whether  or  not  they  are  seeking  asylum  in  the  EU, 
benefit from the same level of protection.   

II. DATA COLLECTION 

The  Action  Plan  underlined  the  need  for  comprehensive,  reliable  and  comparable  data  on 
unaccompanied children arriving on the territory of the Member States, as an essential factor 
for  assessing  the  phenomenon  of  unaccompanied  children,  finding  durable  solutions  and 
ensuring our policy is adapted to the needs on the ground.  

In particular, the Action Plan established that: (a) Member States should use the full potential 
of current and additional disaggregation of the Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 Regulation (EC) 
No 862/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 July 2007 on Community 
statistics  on  migration  and  international  protection  and  repealing  Council  Regulation  (EEC) 
No  311/76  on  the  compilation  of  statistics  on  foreign  workers  (the  Statistics  Regulation)  to 
gather  comprehensive  data  on  unaccompanied  children  –  or  alternatively,  collect  such  data 
directly  from  the  administrations  in  the  Member  States;  (b)  the  EU  and  the  Member  States 
should use the EU Agencies (EASO, Frontex, Europol) and networks (European Network On 
Migration,  EMN)  to  improve  data  collection  and  the  exchange  of  information  on 
unaccompanied children. 

The Action Plan has helped build awareness of the importance of gathering and exchanging 
quantitative  and  qualitative  data,  and  progress  was  made  in  practice  on  both  strands. 
However, gaps and limitations remain, and efforts need to continue. The objective is to ensure 
that the presence of unaccompanied children in the EU is known to the full extent, to ensure 
their full traceability from the point of arrival and regardless of their legal status,  to prevent 
that they go missing and to ensure that there is information available to support their tracing. 

II.1 Actions at EU level 

(a) Collection of data at EU level under the Statistics Regulation 

At  EU  level,  Eurostat  continued  to  require  Member  States  to  provide  data7  not  only  on 
unaccompanied  children  seeking  asylum  but  also  on  those  irregularly  present  including 
victims of trafficking.8 

The  Commission's  Annual  Reports  on  Immigration  and  Asylum9  provide  specific  data 
referring to unaccompanied children as a vulnerable group, with equal focus being placed on 

7    Based on Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 on Community statistics on migration and international protection 

and   repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 311/76 on the compilation of statistics on foreign workers, OJ L 
129 of 31.07.2007 as well as the Technical Guidelines revised by the Commission in 2011. 
8    Eurostat, First permits issued for other reasons by reason, length of validity and citizenship, at 

http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=migr_resoth 

4 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
those who apply for international protection and those who do not. The need for consistency 
and comparability for the latter is highlighted. 

Eurostat collects and publishes annual data of persons applying for asylum considered to be 
unaccompanied children since 2008 reference year on the basis of Article 4 of the Statistics 
Regulation.  These  data  are  broken  down  by  citizenship,  age  (groups)  and  sex.  The  tables 
below show the main figures for the timeframe of the Action Plan and the year 2015.10 

Under  Article  6  of  the  Statistics  Regulation,  Eurostat  collects  since  2010  data  on  first 
residence  permits  issued  to  unaccompanied  children  for  non-asylum  related  reasons. 
However,  due  to  the  non-availability  of  information  on  the  specific  types  of  authorisations 
issued  to  unaccompanied  children  in  some  Member  States  or  the  lack  of  possibility  to 
distinguish  such  permits  from  other  types,  such  data  are  currently  not  reported  by  all 
countries.  

In 2015, only 6,234 such permits were reported by Member States, compared to 4,512 in the 
previous  year.  More than  two thirds  of  all  such  permits  were issued  in Italy  (4,365  in  2015 
and  3,400  in  2014).  Significant  numbers  of  such  permits  were  reported  by  the  United 
Kingdom, Spain, Sweden and Finland.  

In  2015,  most  of  residence  permits  issued  to  unaccompanied  children  not  related  to  asylum 
were issued to unaccompanied children being citizens of Albania (1,514), Egypt (1,076) and 
Bangladesh (518).11 

Evolution in the number of unaccompanied child asylum applications in the EU 2010-2014-2015 

Eurostat:  Unaccompanied child asylum applicants evolution 2010-2015: 
Year 

Number of unaccompanied child asylum 
applicants  

2010 
2014 
2015 

10,610 
23,150 
96,465 

Applicants for international protection considered to be unaccompanied minors in the EU28 
by age group, 2015  
Number of applicants considered to be unaccompanied minors in 2015 
below the age of 14 
Number of applicants considered to be  unaccompanied minors in 2015 
aged 14-15 
No of applicants considered to be unaccompanied minors in 2015 aged 
16-17 
Number of applicants in 2015 considered to be unaccompanied minors 
of unknown age 
TOTAL 

12,455  

55,970 

96,465 

27,775 

265 

9    https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-

do/networks/european_migration_network/reports/nationalreports_en. .   

10  http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/asylum-and-managed-migration/data/database  - Data set: [migr-asyunaa] 
11 http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/asylum-and-managed-migration/data/database Dataset: migr_resoth  

5 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                                                                                                                                                          
Applicants for international protection considered to be unaccompanied minors 

GEO/TIME 
Austria 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Czech Republic 
Denmark 
Germany 
Estonia 
Ireland 
Greece 
Spain 
France 
Croatia 
Italy 
Cyprus 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Hungary 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovenia 
Slovakia 
Finland 
Sweden 
United Kingdom 
Iceland 
Liechtenstein 
Norway 
Switzerland 
EU 
(28 countries) 

2008 
695 
470 
15 
35 
300 
765 
0 
100 
295 
10 
410 
- 
575 
70 
5 
0 
0 
175 
20 
725 
375 
5 
55 
20 
70 
705 
1,510 
4,285 
0 
0 
1,045 
595 

2009 
1,040 
705 
10 
10 
520 
1,305 
0 
55 
40 
20 
445 
- 
415 
20 
0 
5 
10 
270 
45 
1,040 
360 
0 
40 
25 
30 
535 
2,250 
2,990 
0 
15 
1,820 
415 

2010 
600 
860 
20 
5 
410 
1,950 
0 
35 
145 
15 
610 
- 
305 
35 
5 
10 
20 
150 
5 
700 
230 
5 
35 
25 
5 
315 
2,395 
1,715 
0 
0 
630 
220 

2011 
1,005 
1,385 
25 
10 
270 
2,125 
0 
25 
60 
10 
595 
- 
825 
15 
0 
10 
20 
60 
25 
485 
405 
5 
55 
60 
20 
150 
2,655 
1,395 
0 
0 
635 
310 

2012 
1,375 
975 
60 
5 
355 
2,095 
0 
25 
75 
15 
490 
70 
970 
25 
0 
5 
15 
185 
105 
380 
245 
10 
135 
50 
5 
165 
3,575 
1,125 
5 
0 
705 
495 

2013 
935 
415 
185 
0 
350 
2,485 
5 
20 
325 
10 
365 
55 
805 
55 
5 
0 
45 
380 
335 
310 
255 
55 
15 
30 
5 
160 
3,850 
1,265 
0 
0 
670 
355 

2014 
1,975 
470 
940 
5 
815 
4,400 
0 
30 
440 
15 
270 
10 
2,505 
50 
0 
5 
30 
605 
55 
960 
185 
15 
95 
65 
10 
195 
7,045 
1,945 
0 
0 
940 
775 

2015 
8,275 
2,850 
1,815 
15 
2,125 
14,440 
0 
35 
420 
25 
320 
5 
4,070 
105 
10 
5 
105 
8,805 
35 
3,855 
150 
50 
55 
40 
5 
2,535 
35,250 
3,255 
5 
5 
5,050 
2,670 

11,695  12,190  10,610  11,690  12,540  12,725  23,150 

96,465  

Total  13,335  14,435  11,465  12,630  13,745  13,755  23,150  104,195 

In  March  2017,  Eurostat  published  a  compilation  of  annual  data  on  Asylum  applicants 
considered  to  be  unaccompanied  minors  by  citizenship,  age  and  sex,  covering  the  period 
2011-2016.12  The  data  shows  that,  out  of  56,000  unaccompanied  minors  who  applied  for 
asylum in the EU28 in 2016, around 50,000 were boys, of which around 40,000 aged over 16.  

12 http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=migr_asyunaa&lang=en.  

6 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
A  compilation  of  data  on  children  in  migration  collected  from  other  institutional  and  non-
governmental sources is also available on the Commission’s website.13 

To  sum  up,  the  data  communicated  by  Member  States  to  Eurostat  continues  to  be  very 
fragmented.  Moreover,  the  precise  numbers  of  unaccompanied  children  who  go  missing  or 
abscond  from  reception  and  care  facilities  are  not  known.14  FRA  reported  an  average  of  28 
children  disappearing  daily  in  Italy  as  of  October  2016,15  and  one  in  four  unaccompanied 
children  disappearing  from  their  accommodation  in  Sweden  in  January  and  March  2016.16 
Some  of  these  shortcomings  were  discussed  at  the  Eurostat  Annual  Working  Group  on 
Asylum and Managed Migration (19-20 October 2016). 

(b) EU Agencies and networks 

The EU Agencies, international organisations and networks such as the EMN have also been 
working to improve the availability of data and statistics regarding unaccompanied children. 

The  European  Asylum  Support  Office  started  collecting  monthly  data  on  unaccompanied 
minor  applicants  in  March  2014,  in  the  context  of  the  Early  Warning  and  Preparedness 
System  ('EPS').17  The  EPS  is  a  data  collection  system  gathering  information  under  specific 
indicators  that  cover  all  key  stages  of  the  Common  European  Asylum  System  (CEAS). 
However, the information available is limited and access to it is restricted. EASO data cover 
persons claiming to be unaccompanied children, whereas Eurostat data cover persons that are 
confirmed to be unaccompanied minors. 

Countries  provide  monthly  provisional  data  to  EASO  within  15  days,  with  all  30  EU+ 
countries (EU Member States plus Norway and Switzerland) contributing.18 For this reason, 
the  data  provided  to  EASO  by  the  EU+  countries  might  differ  from  the  official  statistics 
submitted  to  Eurostat  in  the  framework  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  862/2007.  The  EPS  data 
inform  of  persons  claiming  to  be  unaccompanied  children  according  to  two  indicators:  (i) 
applicants  for  international  protection  and  (ii)  withdrawn  applications  for  international 
protection.19 Given the short timelines for submitting these operational data, EASO considers 
a  person  to  be  an  unaccompanied  minor  applicant  if  they  claim  to  be  below  the  age  of  18 
years. 

Information on unaccompanied children who have withdrawn their applications (implicitly or 
explicitly)  during  the  reference  period  is  also  collected  in  the  framework  of  the  EPS.  The 
implicit withdrawals can be taken into account, amongst other factors, for estimates in relation 
to  child  trafficking,  provided  that  other  available  information  on  the  phenomenon  is  duly 
considered, including for what concerns trends, gender dimension, age groups. However, the 

13  http://ec.europa.eu/justice/fundamental-rights/files/rights_child/data_children_in_migration.pdf.  
14  In 2013, a Commission- study on Missing children in the European Union: Mapping, data collection and 

statistics provided data on the numbers of missing unaccompanied children in 12 Member States.  

15   http://fra.europa.eu/en/theme/asylum-migration-borders/overviews/october-2016.  
16  See http://fra.europa.eu/en/theme/asylum-migration-borders/overviews/december-2015 and 

http://fra.europa.eu/en/theme/asylum-migration-borders/overviews/february-2016#child-protection.  
17  http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/asylum/examination-of-applicants/docs/non-

paper_art33_dublin_regulation_en.pdf. 

18   See https://www.easo.europa.eu/information-analysis/analysis-and-statistics.  
19   https://www.easo.europa.eu/sites/default/files/Latest%20Asylum%20Trends%20September%20-

%20final.pdf.  

7 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
information  available  is  limited  and access  to  the  system  is  restricted.  Currently this  data  is 
not public, but it is available to the Member States, the Commission and EU Agencies.  

According to EASO, in September 201620 the EU+ countries  recorded  125,809 applications 
for  international  protection.  Since  the  beginning  of  2016,  1,013,053  applications  have  been 
recorded in the EU+. 2% of all applicants claimed to be unaccompanied minors3 when lodging 
an application. 27% of all unaccompanied minor applicants were Afghan citizens, 12% Syrian 
and 9% Eritrean. 

EASO  continued  the  development  of  Country  of  Origin  Information  (COI),  and  recently 
opened  to  the  public  the  COI  Portal,  including  information  on  the  situation  of  children  in 
certain  countries  of  origin,  to  assist  asylum  practitioners.  Several  COI  reports  have  been 
developed21  and  are  available  to  officials  dealing  with  applications  for  international 
protection,  researchers,  policy-makers  and  decision-making  authorities.  Some  of  the  reports 
listed below included one or several sections on children:  

 Afghanistan: Security Situation 
 Afghanistan: Taliban Strategies Recruitment  
 South and Central Somalia country overview  
 Chechnya: Women, Marriage, Divorce and Child Custody 
 Pakistan: Country Overview.  
 South and Central Somalia country overview with  attention a  Forced recruitment of 
girls/Early marriage/female genital mutilation (FGM); 
 EASO  Practical  Guide  on  “Researching  the  situation  of  lesbian,  gay,  and  bisexual 
persons (LGB) in countries of origin”.  

In  addition  to  the  reports,  EASO  also  organised  two  conferences  on  Afghanistan:  in 
December 2012, with a session devoted to Child-Specific COI, and in December 2015, on the 
situation of unaccompanied children. 

In  October  2015,  a  COI  workshop  was  held  on  Nigeria.  The  topics  of  female  genital 
mutilation and early marriages were covered by an external expert from the field. 

The  United  Nations  International  Children's  Emergency  Fund  (UNICEF)  has  developed  a 
child-focused country of origin report about Afghanistan as a pilot project in 2012. The EU 
funded  (under  the  European  Return  Fund22)  the  UNICEF  Child  Notices  project,  which  also 
sought to address the lack of child-specific country of origin information.23 Child Notices on 
the  situation  in  Afghanistan,  Albania,  Guinea,  Morocco  and  Sudan  contain  valuable 
background  information  for  policy-makers  as  well  as  caseworkers,  lawyers  and  other 
professionals  in  Europe,  such  as  demographic  and  statistical  data  on  children,  basic  legal 
information,  general  principles,  civil  rights  and  freedoms,  basic  rights  (e.g.  education, 
healthcare),  family  environment  and  alternative  care,  special  protection  measures,  returning 
separated  or  unaccompanied  children  and  families.  The  project  also  provided  valuable 
learning on the gathering of child-specific country of origin information. 

20  https://www.easo.europa.eu/sites/default/files/Latest%20Asylum%20Trends%20September%20-%20final.pdf 
21  https://easo.europa.eu/asylum-documentation/easo-publication-and-documentation.      
22 Decision No 575/2007/EC (OJ L 144, 6.6.2007, p. 45). 
23  http://www.unicef.nl/wat-doet-unicef/kinderrechten-in-nl/child-notices/english/.  

8 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
                                                            
The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights has started in the last quarter of 2015 to 
collect  data  on  the  fundamental  rights  situation  of  migrants  and  persons  in  need  of 
international  protection  in  those  Member  States  that  had  been  particularly  affected  by  large 
migration movements.24 In particular, FRA started collecting data for the situation in Austria, 
Bulgaria,  Croatia,  Germany,  Greece,  Hungary,  Italy,  Slovenia  and  Sweden,  as  these  were 
assessed  by  FRA  as  the  most  affected  countries  (covering  the  main  entry,  transit  and 
destination countries). As of October 2016, FRA has expanded the number of Member States 
covered in the regular overviews on refugee and immigration situation from 8 to 16, including 
Denmark,  Finland,  France,  the  Netherlands,  Poland,  Spain  and  the  Slovak  Republic.  The 
first25  and  following  reports  contain  specific  references  to  children,  particularly  when 
referring  to "child protection" within the challenges  and developments concerning reception 
conditions of new arrivals, including detention. These references exemplify how the different 
Member States consulted address the main challenges regarding children in migration, such as 
identification  and  registration  of  unaccompanied  and  separated  children,  the  appointment  of 
guardians, the number of unaccompanied children who disappear from their accommodation, 
and the legal and operational path for those who apply for international protection. In addition 
to the regular overviews, FRA has started to publish thematic focus reports on unaccompanied 
and separated children.26  

The  European  Border  and  Coast  Guard  Agency27  continued  to  collect  on  an  ad  hoc  and 
voluntary basis statistics on the persons who illegally crossed the border, which however does 
not provide for age and gender disaggregation. As a result of the  experience gained through 
its activities in 2007 (Joint Operation (JO) Agelaus 2007), 2010 (JO Agelaus 2010) and 2011 
(JO Hammer), it began to develop an indicators compilation and good practice handbook on 
children on the move at risk (namely “Vega Handbook: Children at airports”) in cooperation 
with  its  Fundamental  Right  Officer,  its  Consultative  Forum  representatives  and  Terre  des 
Hommes. The guidance was tested in 2014 in the first Vega Children joint operations before 
being  published  in  August  2015.28  Frontex  planned  to  extend  its  VEGA  Handbook  also  to 
land and sea borders. The VEGA Handbook on land borders will be available in 2017.  

The European Migration Network29 compiles data related to migration and asylum including 
on unaccompanied children. The EMN publishes reports and studies, Ad-Hoc Queries, policy 
briefs,  bulletins  and  factsheets.  The  EMN  comparative  studies30  have  proven  to  be  a  useful 
tool  for  mapping  data  collection  sources  and  systems  in  the  Member  States,  for  identifying 
best practices and remaining gaps and divergences among the Member States regarding data 
collection on unaccompanied children.  

The 2015 EMN Study on policies, practices and data on unaccompanied children/children in 
the  EU  Member  States  and  Norway  provided  a  comparative  overview  of  practices  and 
policies  on  several  key  aspects  related  to  the  treatment  of  migrant  unaccompanied  children 

24 Two Focus Reports (March and December 2016) were dedicated to the situation of unaccompanied and 

separated children respectively. FRA monthly data collection March 2016, thematic focus; children; FRA 
monthly data collection December 2016, thematic focus: separated children. 

25   http://fra.europa.eu/en/theme/asylum-migration-borders/overviews/december-2015.  
26  In March and December 2016 respectively.  
27  According to Recital (11) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1624, the Agency will continue to be commonly referred 

to as Frontex. 

28  http://bookshop.europa.eu/en/vega-handbook-pbTT0415470/.  
29  http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/networks/european_migration_network/index_en.htm.  
30  http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/networks/european_migration_network/reports/index_en.htm. 

9 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
before, during and after status determination. Annex 1 to the 2015 EMN Study compiled the 
following types of data: 

 Table  A1.1  Statistics  on  applications  for  international  protection  by  unaccompanied 
minors in the (Member) States (2009-2014).  
 Table  A1.2  Total  number  of  applications  for  international  protection  submitted  by 
unaccompanied minors in the (Member) States in each reference period, disaggregated 
by their sex and age (2009-2013).  
 Table  A1.3  Statistics  on  results  of  application  for  international  protection  by 
unaccompanied minors in the (Member) States (2009-2013).  
 Table  A1.4  Status  granted  to  unaccompanied  minors  out  of  the  total  number  of 
positive asylum decisions (2009-2013).  
 Table  A1.5  Statistics  on  grounds  for  permits  granted  application  for  international 
protection by unaccompanied minors in the (Member) State (2009-2013).  
 Table  A1.6  Total  number  of  unaccompanied  minors  not  applying  for  international 
protection in the Member State (2009-2013) (data for 6 Member States only).  
 Table A1.7 Total number of unaccompanied minors NOT applying for asylum in the 
Member  States  in  each  reference  period,  disaggregated  by  their  sex  and  age  (2009-
2013) (data for 4 Member States). 
 Table A1.8 Total number of residence permits granted to unaccompanied minors not 
in the asylum system, disaggregated by sex (2009-2013) (data for 4 Member States). 
 Table A1.9 Asylum-seeking unaccompanied minors that abscond and/or are reported 
as missing from the asylum system (including those then accounted for) (2009-2013).  
 Table  A1.10  Non-asylum  seeking  unaccompanied  minors  that  abscond  and/  or  are 
reported as missing from the care of public authorities (including those then accounted 
for) (2009-2013).  
 Table  A1.11  Total  number  of  unaccompanied  minors  in  the  care  of  the  public 
authorities in each reference period (2009-2013). 
 Table  A1.12  Total  number  of  unaccompanied  minors  in  the  care  of  the  public 
authorities in each reference period, disaggregated by their sex and age (2009-2013). 
 Table  A1.13  Total  number  of  unaccompanied  minors  in  detention  pending  return  in 
each reference period, disaggregated by their sex and age (2009-2013). 
 Table A1.14 Total number of unaccompanied minors returned as part of forced return 
measures in each reference period (2009-2013). 
 Table  A1.15  Total  number  of  unaccompanied  minors  returned  as  part  of  voluntary 
measures in each reference period (2009-2013). 
 Table  A1.16  Total  number  of  unaccompanied  minors  returned  as  part  of  assisted 
voluntary return measures in each reference period (2009-2013). 

Under the EMN 2017-2018 Work Programme, Member States should start collecting weekly 
operational  data  on  return,  disaggregated  inter  alia  by  vulnerable  groups,  including 
unaccompanied  children,  with  a  view  to  exchanging  it  within  the  Integrated  Return 
Management Application.  

International organisations are also involved in the sharing and monitoring of statistical data 
on  unaccompanied  children.  The  United  Nations  High  Commissioner  for  Refugees 

10 

 
 
 
 
 
(UNHCR),31  the  International  Organisation  for  Migration  (IOM)  and  UNICEF32  provide 
regularly updated data compilations.  

To  ensure  visibility  of  data  on  children  in  migration  collected  from  some  institutional  and 
non-governmental sources, the Commission published this information on its website.33   

In  the  context  of  the  migration  crisis,  the  Integrated  Political  Crisis  Response  (IPCR) 
arrangements  were  launched  in  November  2015  under  the  Presidency  of  the  Council  of  the 
EU.34  IPCR  proved  to  be  a  very  useful  tool  enabling  prompt  collection  and  (non-public) 
exchange of relevant data in relation to unaccompanied children.35  

II.2 Actions in EU Member States  

A  Commission  study  of  2013  on  Missing  Children  in  the  European  Union:  Mapping,  data 
collection and statistics36 provided data on the numbers of missing unaccompanied children in 
12  EU  Member  States:  Belgium,  Cyprus,  the  Czech  Republic,  Denmark,  Estonia,  Finland, 
Italy,  Luxembourg,  the  Slovak  Republic,  Slovenia,  Spain  and  Sweden.  The  numbers  of 
missing children ranged from 1,754 in Italy to 1 in Cyprus (2012). This study also revealed 
that  responses  to  missing  unaccompanied  children  are  often  different  from  responses  to 
missing national children. The precise numbers of unaccompanied children who go missing or 
abscond from reception and care facilities are not known, which makes it difficult to provide 
an  adequate  assessment  of  the  issue  of  absconding  in  the  Member  States,  as  well  as  at  EU 
level. 

The 2015 EMN Study also highlighted the lack of comprehensive and comparable data on the 
numbers of and outcomes for unaccompanied children receiving some form of protection in 
the  EU  other  than  international  protection.  The  current  obligation  for  Member  States  to 
provide  annual  data  only  for  unaccompanied  children  applying  for  international  protection 
was one of the causes of the data shortage. The lack of comprehensive and comparable data 
impedes a proper assessment of the real scale of specific problems affecting asylum- and non-
asylum seeking unaccompanied children alike, such as the risk of absconding from reception 
and / or care facilities. 

The EMN Study concluded that more systematic data collection by the Member States, using 
common definitions on unaccompanied children, is needed for informing policies addressing 
this particularly vulnerable group. It was suggested that this may include: 

  The  systematic  collection  of  annual  disaggregated  data  on  unaccompanied  children 
who  are  not  applying  for  international  protection  (by  age  and  sex,  grounds  for 

31  UNHCR, http://data.UNHCR.org/mediterranean/regional.php, 22/12/2015. 
32  http://www.iom.int/sites/default/files/press_release/file/IOM-UNICEF-Data-Brief-Refugee-and-Migrant-

Crisis-in-Europe-30.11.15.pdf.  

33  http://ec.europa.eu/justice/fundamental-rights/files/rights_child/data_children_in_migration.pdf.   
34  http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/documents-publications/publications/2014/eu-ipcr . 
35  Since April 2016, information is being collected related to the number of arrivals of unaccompanied children, 
the number of unaccompanied children that each Member State has registered, the availability of adequate 
accommodation and other alternative accommodation facilities, and the main obstacles to relocation of 
unaccompanied minors.   

36  http://ec.europa.eu/justice/fundamental-rights/files/missing_children_study_2013_en.pdf.  

11 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
 
residence  permits  granted  to  non-asylum  seeking  unaccompanied  children  or  other 
possible outcomes for such children - e.g. return). 

   The  development  of  a  standardised  EU-wide  method  to  record  the  disappearances 
with annual data collection on the total number of unaccompanied children reported 
as missing and/or absconding from the care of asylum or other public authorities (and 
those  then  accounted  for),  disaggregated  by  age,  sex,  nationality,  type  of 
disappearances in terms of the migration status of the minor, including a distinction 
between the numbers of children and numbers of cases of disappearances. 

   The  development  of  common  indicators  on  durable  solutions/outcomes  for 

unaccompanied children, both asylum- and non-asylum seeking; 

   The  development  of  common  indicators  on  outcomes  for  unaccompanied  children 
turning  18  years  of  age,  disaggregated  by  sex  and  type  of  outcomes  (e.g. 
permanent/temporary residence permit, return, education/ employment, etc.). 

The 2015 EMN Study showed that data collection on unaccompanied children continues to be 
insufficient in many Member States, mainly due to the fact that different administrations and 
institutions are in charge of children’s' reception and care. At the same time, many Member 
States do not compile at all statistics on the  number of unaccompanied children who do not 
apply for international protection.  

However, the 2015 EMN Study provides data on the numbers of (i) unaccompanied children 
applying  for  international  protection  and/or  those  who  have  been  granted  international 
protection,  and  (ii)  unaccompanied  children  not  applying  for  international  protection, 
including those who entered irregularly and/or child victims of trafficking. These numbers can 
be found in the Synthesis Report of the 2015 EMN Study.  

Further developments in the Member States in 2015 

Several Member States have indicated the following data for 201537 

Sex-disaggregated 

Males 

Females 

2,836 

233 

GEO/TIME 
EU 
countries) 

(28 

2015 

Age -disaggregated  Top 

<14 

14-
15 

16-
17 

5 
countries  of 
origin 

Afghanistan 
4,012) 
Syria (834) 
Iraq (284) 
Somalia (208) 
Pakistan (203) 
Afghanistan 
(2,013) 
Syria (467) 
Iraq (185) 
Somalia (108) 
Guinea (60) 
Afghanistan 
(940) 

Austria 

6,17138 

404 

5,767 

Belgium 

3,099 

399 

1,265 

1,435 

Bulgaria 

37  Countries which did not provide data are marked in grey. 
38  Between January and September 2015. 

12 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
1,816 

255 

603 

968 

Czech Republic 

14 

4 

10 

Denmark 
Germany 
Estonia 

Hungary 

8,804 

2,915  2,234  3,671 

32 

1 

5 

26 

Ireland 

Greece 

Spain 

65 

15 

10 

40 

France 
Croatia 

Italy39 

3,959 

Cyprus 
Latvia 

1,706 

110 

10 

4 

7,534 

1,270 

4 

28 

48 

17 

Iraq (532) 
Syria (284) 
Pakistan (40) 
India (7) 
Afghanistan 
(5) 
Syria (3) 
Ukraine (3) 
Egypt (1) 
Iraq (1) 
Nigeria (1) 

Afghanistan 
(4,875) 
Syria (2,238) 
Kosovo (746) 
Iraq (310) 
Pakistan (212) 

Afghanistan 
Albania 
Democratic 
Republic of 
Congo 
Zimbabwe 
Iraq 

Morocco 
Algeria 
Syria 

Gambia 
(1,171) 
Nigeria (564) 
Senegal (437) 
Bangladesh 
(420) 
Mali (310) 

39  The Italian authorities provided an age-disaggregation of the 11,921 unaccompanied children who arrived in 
Italy in  2015: 43 was  under 6;  896  between  7-14; 1,312 were 15; 3,238  were  16; 6,432 were 17.  The  data 
reveals that most of the unaccompanied who arrived in Italy in 2015 (a) did not apply for asylum and (b) were 
close  to  maturity  age.  The  Italian  authorities  also  reported  the  forthcoming  implementation  of  a  new 
information system dedicated to unaccompanied children, which would allow the monitoring and tracing of 
unaccompanied  children  throughout  Italy  and  facilitate  the  harmonisation  of  the  national  protection  system 
throughout the country. 

13 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Malta 

42 

Netherlands 

3,890 

23040 

3,61041 

Poland 

149 

107 

13 

29 

Portugal 

49 

49 

Romania 

40 

10 

30 

Syria (1,640) 
Eritrea (1,270) 
Afghanistan 
(490) 
Iraq (130) 
Iran (50) 
Russian 
Federation 
(103) 
Vietnam (13) 
Takijistan (7) 
Afghanistan 
(5) 
Iraq (5) 
Mali 
Guinea 
Democratic 
Republic of 
Congo 
Afghanistan 
Syria 
Bangladesh 
Iraq 
Somalia 

44 

3 

6 

14 

24 

3 

Pakistan (1) 
Vietnam (2) 

35,369 

35,369 

Afghanistan 
Syria 
Somalia 
Eritrea 

Slovenia 

Slovakia 

Finland 

Sweden 

United Kingdom 
Iceland 
Liechtenstein 
Norway 
Switzerland 
Total 

3,270 

630 

82 

67 

32 

17 

35 

44 

1 

5 

0 

2 

III.  PREVENTION  OF  UNSAFE  MIGRATION  AND  TRAFFICKING  IN  HUMAN 
BEINGS 

40  Children of age: 0 – 12. 
41  Children of age: 13 – 18. 

14 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
III.1   Prevention 

Preventing unsafe migration and child trafficking remains the first step of a strategy to tackle 
the phenomenon of unaccompanied children. On this account, the Action Plan had identified 
priority actions to be undertaken at EU and national levels in four main areas: (a) funding; (b) 
relations  with  third  countries;  (c)  fight  against  trafficking  in  human  beings  ('THB');  and  (d) 
visas  and  information.  Significant  progress  was  made  since  2010  as  result  of  increased 
cooperation  with  third  countries,  including  under  the  new  Partnership  Framework  and  the 
implementation  of  the  EU  Strategy  towards  the  eradication  of  trafficking  in  human  beings 
2012-2016. These efforts need to be sustained and further increased.  

(a) Funding  

Actions at EU level  

The  first  implementation  report  of  the  Action-Oriented  paper  on  strengthening  the  EU 
external dimension on action against trafficking in human beings ('THB'), 42 adopted in 2011,  
gave  an  overview  of  projects  addressing  THB  in  non-EU  countries  funded  by  the  EU  and 
Member States.  

Awareness-raising information campaigns concerning the serious risks and dangers faced by 
migrants,  and  especially  by  unaccompanied  children  attempting  to  reach  the  EU  through 
irregular  channels,  have  been  intensified.  In  2014,  the  EU  has  launched  two  information 
campaigns in Niger (targeting Western Africans) and Ethiopia/Sudan (targeting Somalis and 
Eritreans)43. These countries are crucial in the smuggling of human beings which takes place 
from  key  regions  in  crisis,  and  have  an  impact  on  the  flow  affecting  the  Central 
Mediterranean route. These are important origin and transit countries for trafficking in human 
beings which takes  place from key  regions in  crisis, and through  the Central Mediterranean 
route.  These  campaigns  were  financed  by  the  EU  under  the  Asylum,  Migration  and 
Integration Fund (AMIF) 2014 Annual Work Programme.44 

In 2015, the Commission has published a call for proposals under AMIF45 aimed at funding 
actions addressing the integration and the safe and sustainable return of victims of trafficking 
in  human  beings,  further  focusing  on  the  early  identification  and  protection  of  children, 
including  unaccompanied  children,  as  well  as  adults  victims  of  trafficking  for  all  forms  of 
exploitation  in  high-risk  sectors  (such  as,  for  example,  sex  industry,  agriculture,  fisheries, 
construction, textile, sex industry, domestic work).  

Following  the  call  HOME/2015/AMIF/AG/THBX,  the  project  "Trafficking  along  Migration 
Routes:  Identification  and  Integration  of  Victims  of  Trafficking  among  Vulnerable  Groups 
and Unaccompanied Children is co-financed with EUR 498,741.74. 

42  http://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/EU+Policy/Action_Oriented_Paper_on_strengthening_the_EU_external_di

mension_on_action_against_THB.  

43  http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/e-library/documents/policies/legal-migration/general/docs/sdw_impleme

ntation_of_the_communication_on_the_work_of_the_task_force_mediterranean_part_1_en.pdf. 

44  See pages 6-7 of AMIF Annual Work Programme 2014 http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-
affairs/financing/fundings/migration-asylum-borders/asylum-migration-integration-
fund/call_2014/docs/c_2014_5652_wp_2014_union_actions_emergency_en.pdf. 

45  http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/financing/fundings/migration-asylum-borders/asylum-migration-

integration-fund/calls/2015/thbx/index_en.htm. 

15 

 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Protection  of  children  is  one  of  the  main  objectives  of  the  "Strengthening  child  protection, 
reducing  the  risk  of  sexual  and  gender  base  violence  and  improving  protection  for  refugees 
and asylum-seekers in Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya" project which is supported under the 2015 
AMIF grant for the Regional Development and Protection Programme in the Horn of Africa 
(the  maximum  AMIF  contribution  is  EUR  4,966,112.53).  Apart  from  the  child  protection 
related activities, the project covers also activities related to the prevention of the sexual and 
gender based violence in Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya.  

Some  child  related  activities  are  also  covered  by  the  2015  AMIF  grant  for  the  Regional 
Development  and  Protection  Programme  in  North  Africa,  in  particular  in  Mauritania.  The 
overall  maximum  AMIF  contribution  to  the  Regional  Development  and  Protection 
Programme  in  North  Africa  is  EUR  9,997,627.90  and  the  budget  of  the  sub-action  for 
Mauritania (which does not cover only child related activities) is EUR 1,298,913.17.  

Via a sub-delegation of the budget from the Commission to Eurostat (under the AMIF 2016 
Annual  Work  Programme46),  on  the  basis  of  a  memorandum  of  understanding,  additional 
statistical data is financed, amounting EUR 375,000. Data tables collected specifically about 
children and when feasible all other relevant datasets shall always provide for inclusion of the 
disaggregation by sex/age and figures on children who are unaccompanied. 

Under  the  AMIF  Annual  Work  Programme  2016,  the  Call  for  proposals  to  support 
transnational  projects  to  integrate  third  country  nationals  will  co–finance  (EUR 
9,500,000) two priorities, and children are among the targets: 

Priority 1: Promoting active participation in society overall.  

Integration  goes  beyond  having  a  job.  Active  participation  in  other  aspects  of  society  is 
equally  important,  in  particular  in  educational  activities  and  social  activities,  including  for 
children. Not only does this contribute to the smooth integration of third-country nationals, it 
also helps promote a positive image of migration, combat stereotypes, communicate real facts 
and change the ‘narrative’ on migration.  

Priority  2:  Pre-departure  and  post-arrival  support  for  the  integration  of  persons  in  need  of 
international  protection  who  are  being  relocated  within  the  EU  or  resettled  from  a  third 
country.  

The  Commission  has  continued  to  provide  funding  for  projects  targeting  child  victims  of 
trafficking in the EU under several programmes, e.g. Prevention and Fight Against Crime and 
DAPHNE,47  but  also  to  projects  addressing  THB  in  non-EU  countries  and  regions.  In 
particular,  the  EU  is  currently  implementing  the  Global  Action  to  Prevent  and  Address 
Trafficking  in  Persons  and  the  Smuggling  of  Migrants,48  with  specific  actions  dedicated  to 
children  and  other  vulnerable  migrants.  It  is  a  four-year  (2015-2019)  joint  initiative  by  the 
European  Union  and  the  United  Nations  Office  on  Drugs  and  Crime  ('UNODC')  being 

46 https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/financing/fundings/migration-asylum-borders/asylum-

migration-integration-fund/union-
actions/docs/awp_union_action_c_2016_4570_1_annex_v2_p1_856662_en.pdf 

47  https://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/eu-projects_en?f%5b0%5d=im_field_programme%3A316.  
48  https://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/launch-global-action-prevent-and-address-trafficking-persons-and-

smuggling-migrants_en. 

16 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
 
implemented  in  partnership  with  the  IOM  and  UNICEF.    The  programme  is  part  of  a  joint 
response to address trafficking in human beings and smuggling of migrants and it is expected 
to be delivered in up to 15 strategically selected countries across Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe 
and Latin America. The focus will be on assistance to governmental authorities, civil society 
organisations,  victims  of  trafficking  and  smuggled  migrants.  The  programme  aims  to  assist 
the  selected  countries  in  developing  and  implementing  comprehensive  national  counter-
trafficking and counter-smuggling responses aims and objectives.  

In East Africa, the programme 'Addressing Mixed Migration Flows (AMMF)' , implemented 
by  Expertise  France  in  partnership  with  the   IOM,  the  Danish  Refugee  Council  and  the 
Regional  Mixed  Migration  Secretariat  has  as  one  of  its  main  objectives  to  tackle  organised 
crime networks active in migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings with a specific 
focus  on  vulnerable  groups  and  children.  Other  specific  objectives  include  to  set  up  and 
strengthen  safe  and  rights-respectful  centres  for  migrants  and  to  promote  the  provision  of 
livelihoods  and  self-reliance  opportunities  for  displaced  persons  and  host  communities.  The 
project runs for 36 months over the period 2016-2019 and covers Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, 
Egypt, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan.  

Tailor- made  technical assistance interventions to improve country legislation on trafficking 
in  human  beings  and  smuggling  of  migrants  are  also  currently  provided  to  partner 
governments in the framework of two EU-funded initiatives on capacity building: MIEUX49 
(Migration  EU  Expertise,  a  global  initiative  implemented  by  the  International  Centre  for 
Migration  Policy  Development  (ICMPD))  and  the  ACP-EU  Migration  Action50  (to  support 
the  implementation  of  the  ACP-EU  Dialogue  on  Migration  and  Development  and 
implemented by IOM). Both programmes will run up to 2019.  

Consultations  under  the  IOM  implemented  project  “Migrants  in  Countries  in  Crisis: 
Supporting  an  Approach  Based  on  the  Facts  for  Efficient  and  Concerted  Action  of  the 
States51”  highlighted  the  importance  of  reflecting  the  vulnerabilities  of  migrant  children,  in 
particular  unaccompanied  minors.  It  is  currently  being  explored  how  capacity  building 
activities under the project can integrate such aspects. 

Following the Council Conclusions of 10 March 201652 and in line with the EU Action Plan 
against Migrant Smuggling 2015-2020,53 the Commission, together with the relevant Member 
States and EU Agencies, is mapping ongoing and planned projects across EU Member States 
with a view to collecting best practices and developing new, targeted campaigns in countries 
of origin and transit, including in the Horn of Africa and the Silk Route region.  

EU Trust Fund for Africa 

Under the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, a number of projects approved since 2015 
are contributing to the implementation of the Action Plan on Unaccompanied Minors.  

49 https://www.icmpd.org/our-work/capacity-building/multi-thematic-programmes/mieux-iii/ 
50 http://www.acpeumigrationaction.iom.int/ 
51 https://micicinitiative.iom.int/ 
52  http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2016/03/10-council-conclusions-on-migrant-

smuggling/. 

53  http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/e-

library/documents/policies/asylum/general/docs/eu_action_plan_against_migrant_smuggling_en.pdf. 

17 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Firstly,  the  project  ‘Better  Migration  Management’  (EUR  46  million),  aimed  at  improving 
migration  management  at  regional  level  in  the  Horn  of  Africa,  will  provide  specialised 
protection to unaccompanied and separated minors who have fallen prey to human trafficking 
and smuggling networks. Foreseen activities in Sudan, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Somalia include 
facilitating dialogue between child protection providers in the relevant countries, establishing 
multidisciplinary  child  protection  teams  and  conducting  trainings  on  standard  operating 
procedures  in  child  protection  such  as  family  tracing  or  reunification.  The  project  is 
implemented  by  a  consortium  of  EU  Member  States’  agencies  led  by  Gesellschaft  für 
Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and commenced its activities in April 2016.  

Secondly,  under  the  Regional  Development  and  Protection  Programme  (RDPP)  framework, 
for  which  projects  are  on-going  in  Ethiopia  (EUR  30  million),  Kenya  (EUR  15  million), 
Somalia (EUR 50 million), Sudan (EUR 15 million) and Uganda (EUR 20 million), a specific 
focus is put on the protection of unaccompanied minors. As its overall objective, the RDPP 
aims  to  create  evidence-based,  innovative  and  sustainable  development  and  protection 
solutions for both refugees and their host communities, including access to and provision of 
basic  rights  and  services.  For  example,  in  Uganda,  a  project  implemented  by  EU  Member 
State  agencies  and  NGO  consortia  provides  protection  in  four  refugee-hosting  areas  where 
youth  are  particularly  vulnerable  to  abduction  or  recruitment  into  sex  slavery  and  child 
soldiering,  with  one  component  dedicated  to  providing  technical  vocational,  education  and 
training  (TVET)  and  promoting  apprenticeships  for  youth.  In  Ethiopia,  activities  are 
specifically  targeted  at  providing  protection  and  assistance  to  Eritrean  refugees  of  whom 
many  are  young  men  and  unaccompanied  minors,  for  instance  through  access  to  primary 
education and apprenticeship programmes.  

The RDPP North Africa as well as the RDPP Horn of Africa focus on the protection needs of 
vulnerable  persons,  in  particular  unaccompanied  minors.  The  RDPP  Middle  East  aims  to 
enhance protection against the worst forms of child labour. 

In  Cameroon  a  Trust  Fund  project  is  dedicated  to  strengthening  the  capacities  for  a  better 
migration  management  in  order  to  protect  children  migrants  against  exploitation  and 
trafficking (EUR 3 million). A similar project is implemented in Nigeria (EUR 3.2 million) to 
invest in the safety and integrity of Nigerian girls. In the same country, a project is dedicated 
to strengthening psychosocial support mental health, reintegration and protection services for 
children in Borno, including children associated with Boko Haram (EUR 5 million). 

Many  others  projects  are  supported  under  the  Trust  Fund  to  prevent  migration  through 
improving  youth  employability  and  creating  job  opportunities,  among  them:  socio-
professional insertion project for youth Chadians in vulnerability (EUR 10.3 million); youth 
employment  opportunities  in  Mali  (EUR  20  million);  creating  job  opportunities  in  cross-
border and peripheral areas in Burkina Faso (EUR 7 million); countering rural emigration and 
reintegration in the peanut plant basin through developing rural economy in Senegal (EUR 18 
million);  decent  jobs  and  job  strengthening  for  youth  and  potential  migrants  in  the  fishery 
sector  in  Mauritania  (EUR  14  million);  support  to  agricultural  sector  in  Niger  (EUR  30 
million);  boosting  economy  and  supporting  communities  in  Mali  (EUR  10  million);  job 
creation in Senegal through the reinforcement of competitiveness of enterprises in departure 
zones in Senegal (EUR 40 million); reducing migration through rural job creation and setting 
individual and village agricultural farms in high-potential migration areas in Senegal (EUR 20 
million); resilience and employment in Lake Chad (EUR 27 million); promoting employment 
and  reinforcing  resilience  in  North  Cameron  (EUR  7  million);  strengthening  training  and 

18 

 
 
 
 
 
 
professional  insertion  of  young  boys  and  girls  in  Agadez  and  Zinder  for  socioeconomic 
development in Niger (EUR 6.9 million); insertion and socioeconomic stabilisation of youth 
and women in Seno in Burkina-Faso (EUR 5.2 million); countering illegal migration through 
supporting the private sector and job creation in Senegal (EUR 10 million); job creation and 
development  of  micro-enterprises  through  fair  trade  and  selected  value  chains  (regional 
project, EUR 10 million); investing for local economic development in the extreme North of 
Cameroon to favour youth employment and insertion (EUR 10 million); supporting a Gambia 
Youth  Empowerment  Scheme  (EUR  11  million);  improving  employability  of  youth  and 
capacities  of  medium  and  small  enterprises  through  developing  the  construction  industry 
relying  on  local  materials  in  Mauritania  (EUR  3.2  million);  supporting  professional 
competences, entrepreneurship and agribusiness for youth in rural area in Burkina-Faso (EUR 
8  million);  promotion  of  jobs  and  strengthening  living  conditions  of  fishermen,  youth  and 
women in  North Mauritania (EUR 10 million). Other are focusing on addressing nutritional 
and food insecurity as push factor for migration. 

Violence against children 

A specific EUR 41 million Call for Proposals was launched in 2013 on child protection and 
tackling violence against children. 32 projects were selected worldwide, focusing mainly on 
establishing  stronger  child  protection  systems  and  establishing  protection,  assistance  and 
referral mechanisms through local and national actions.  

Others 

In 2016, the EU launched a comprehensive development assistance package (EUR 92 million) 
to  support  sustainable  reintegration  of  returnees  in  Afghanistan,  Bangladesh  and  Pakistan. 
This measure is also aimed to help local authorities develop adequate policy frameworks for 
rights-based  and  development-focused  migration  policies  and  sustainable  reintegration  of 
returnees. Particular attention is given to vulnerable groups, including unaccompanied minors, 
who  will  be  assisted  by  local  authorities  and  IOM  in  the  framework  of  the  EU-funded 
reintegration programme through effective referral and support systems, which include post-
arrival assistance, enhanced access to livelihood services, support to educational needs, skills 
development and/or income generating activities. 

The  "Civil  Society  Action  for  Promoting  Migrants’  Rights",54  implemented  by  the 
International  Federation  of  the  Red  Cross,  is  aiming  to  reinforce  Civil  Society  Actors' 
capacities  to  set  up  protection  mechanisms  for  migrants  with  focus  on  children  at  risk  and 
other  vulnerable  groups.  The  main  objective  is  to  contribute  towards  eradicating  human 
trafficking in targeted countries, corridors and regions, in the frame of a globally coordinated 
civil  society  action,  providing  direct  support  and  protection  to  migrants  and  their  families, 
promoting  and  raising  awareness  of  their  rights  at  all  levels  through  prevention  actions, 
assistance services, rescue operations, reintegration assistance. 

is  supporting 

The  Commission 
the  project  "Strengthening  regional  multi-national 
coordination for increased protection of vulnerable and trafficked migrant children travelling 
through  the  Gulf  of  Aden  Migration  Route",  implemented  by  the  IOM  and  taking  place  in 
Yemen, Ethiopia and Djibouti (EUR 1.25 million). It supports the coordination efforts of the 
governments  of  the  3  countries  to  protect  and  promote  the  human  rights  of  unaccompanied 

54 http://www.ifrc.org/en/what-we-do/migration/rights-of-migrants-in-action/ 

19 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
minors  and separated  children along their migration  route (cooperation and policy dialogue, 
advocacy, enhancing information, identification and direct assistance, awareness-raising).  

European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights  

Through  the  European  Instrument  for  Democracy  and  Human  Rights,  the  Commission  is 
providing support to several projects selected in 2015 under the  lot on "support to migrants, 
including  asylum  seekers  in  third  countries,  internally  displaced  persons  and  stateless 
persons". Among them, a project in Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is 
aiming at community monitoring and advocacy: improving the position of refugees and other 
migrants,  especially  children  and  women  on  local  communities.  Another  project  focuses, 
mainly  in  Libya,  on the protection of  migrants and asylum  seekers, especially children, and 
women coming from Nigeria and victims of trafficking. In India, a project aims at preventing, 
protecting and promoting the rights of internally displaced children and their families through 
increased  state  policies  and  protection  of  their  rights.  Children  are  also  among  main 
beneficiaries  of  projects  in  Cambodia  aiming  at  supporting  and  advocating  Cambodian's 
migrants'  rights  in  Thailand,  preventing  violations  and  human  trafficking;  and  in  Lebanon, 
Jordan and Turkey, aiming at supporting the rights of Dom and other related minorities from 
Syria.  

Moreover, in 2016 the Commission allocated a direct grant (EUR 1.2 million) to UNHCR for 
global technical assistance  and capacity-building to  prevent the detention of children and to 
protect children and other asylum seekers in detention (Indonesia, Iraq, the former Yugoslav 
Republic of Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico). Country-wide immigration detention monitoring 
and  capacity  building  programmes  as  well  as  technical  assistance  and  awareness  raising 
activities  for  immigration  officials  (border  guards,  airport  staff  etc.)  and  child  protection 
actors,  stakeholders  and  Civil  Society  Organisations  are  provided  in  order  to  reinforce 
expertise on international standards.  

Direct support to civil society 
Since 2016 the Commission is providing support to Civil  Society Organisations through the 
signature of Framework  Partnerships Agreements (FPA) in their capacities of implementing 
agents and actors of governance at regional and global levels. An FPA has been signed with 
the  International  Federation  for  Human  Rights  (FIDH)  to  defend  and  protect  the  enabling 
environment of civil society in particular regarding the rights of migrants, women and Human 
Rights Defenders. Another FPA has been signed with La Via Campesina (LVC) to increase 
the  capacity  of  small-scale  food  producer's  organisations  and  notably  empower  youth  and 
ensure them a future in the country-side.  

Education 
The EU invests around EUR 1.7 billion (2014-2020) in country allocations to fragile states to 
improve access to quality education for all children and youth. 60% are fragile countries out 
of the 45 countries where  education is  a focal sector  for EU support.  The EU also supports 
education  through  the  Global  Partnership  for  Education  (GPE)  which  aims  to  strengthen 
education  systems  in  developing  countries  in  order  to  dramatically  increase  the  number  of 
children who are in school and learning. The GPE is increasingly focussing support on fragile 
countries, with around 50% of funding going to these countries. The EU is the biggest donor 
to  the GPE  Fund with  a pledge of  EUR 375  million (2014-2020).  The EU collectively (EU 
and  the  Member  States)  provide  around  63%  of  the  financing  to  the  GPE  Fund.  The  EU  is 
also actively engaged in the Education Cannot Wait Fund (ECW), which was launched at the 

20 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
World Humanitarian Summit in 2016. The ECW's goal is to ensure that children and youth in 
conflict-affected  countries  or  have  been  forcibly  displaced  have  access  to  safe,  free  and 
quality schooling. 

Civil and birth registration 
The Commission is supporting as a priority the establishment of strong Civil Registration and 
Vital  Statistics  Systems,  and  notably  quality  birth  registration  services,  in  third  countries. 
Ensuring  children's  access  to  an  identity  at  birth  participates  to  a  better  protection  from 
violence all along their life. The project "Towards universal birth registration in Africa" (EUR 
4 million) is implemented by UNICEF in Burkina-Faso, Cameroon, Uganda and Zambia. In 
Mali, a EUR 25 million support is given to the strengthening of a national secured and civil 
registration  system.  In  Senegal,  the  Commission  supports  the  consolidation  of  the  civil 
registration system and the creation of a national file of biometric identities.  

Actions at the level of the Member States  

As  highlighted  in  the  2015  EMN  Study,  over  the  period  2012-2014  several  Member  States 
have  implemented  prevention  and  development  projects  in  third  countries  to  address  the 
circumstances of unaccompanied children (and migrants in general) who seek to travel to the 
EU. These projects focused on: 

 Investments  in  education  in  third  countries  (by  Belgium,  France,  Hungary, 
Luxembourg, Slovenia). Educational aspirations constitute one of the reasons for fleeing 
third  countries  and  seeking  protection  in  the  EU.  It  is  important  to  provide  access  to 
educational  resources  in  those  countries.  This  could  help  reduce  poverty  and  increase 
the possibilities for employment.  
 Measures  aimed  at  the  prevention  of  recruitment  of  child  soldiers,  prostitution  and 
establishment of protection centres (Germany).  
 Measures for prevention of trafficking in human beings (the United Kingdom). 
 Awareness-raising  campaigns  on  migration  and  asylum  procedures  in  the  EU  in 
general  and  (Member)  States  in  particular  (Belgium,  Cyprus,  Luxembourg,  the 
Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia and Norway).  

The 2015 EMN Study points to a set of good practices identified in this respect.  

Member States 

Belgium 

Netherlands 

Promising practices reported 
Several  awareness-raising  missions  were  carried  out  to  countries 
of origin of important groups of migrants, such as countries in the 
Balkan  region,  Guinea  and  Congo.  These  missions  aimed  at 
explaining  the  Belgian  migration  policies  and  asylum  system  to 
the  local  populations,  in  order  to  counter  false  expectations  and 
dissuade  possible  victims  of  trafficking  or  smuggling,  including 
unaccompanied children, from heading to Belgium. 
A  project  was  run  in  Afghanistan  from  January  2013  to  June 
2014.  The  project  was  implemented  by  UNHCR  and  developed 
an  awareness-raising  campaign  geared 
towards  preventing 
vulnerable children from abuse and improving this group's access 
to  protection  services.  The  most  important  activities  that  took 
place in various parts of the country were:  

21 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

- dialogue with  local  communities about child protection (abuse, 
violence, exploitation and neglect); 
-  providing  information  in  the  form  of  theatre  plays  (due  to 
illiteracy) about the risks of irregular migration;  

  TV  and  radio  campaigns  about  irregular  migration  and  the 
vulnerability of unaccompanied children during such travel; and 
- campaign about the forced marriages of children. 

 

Directive  2011/93/EU  on  child  sexual  abuse  and  exploitation55  provides  another  legal 
instrument  which  sets  minimum  levels  for  criminal  penalties  for  such  crimes  and  facilitates 
reporting, investigation and prosecution. It extends national jurisdiction to cover abuse by EU 
nationals abroad, gives child victims easier access to legal remedies and includes measures to 
prevent additional trauma from participating in criminal proceedings.  

(b) Relation with Third Countries  

Awareness- raising information campaigns in Countries of Origin and of Transit   

In  2016  a  call  for  proposals  was  launched  under  the  Global  Public  Goods  and  Challenges 
thematic  programme  on  Migration  to  support  the  implementation  of  the  Rome  Programme 
(Rabat  Process)56.  Among  the  selected  awarded  projects,  three  Civil  Society  Organisations' 
implemented initiatives are focusing on child protection in West Africa region.  

Foreseen  activities  include:  awareness  rising  in  local  communities  on  the  risks  of  irregular 
migration for children (with a specific focus on identified communities with children at risk); 
training  for  relevant  actors  on  the  protection  of  children  and  young  migrants  at  risk  of 
exploitation;  reinforcing  existing  child  protection  mechanisms  and  improve  access  to 
protection for child migrants in vulnerable situations; support voluntary return and sustainable 
reintegration  for  migrant  children;  improve  data  collection  and  analysis  and  improve 
governments' ownership on data collection and information sharing. 

The  EU-Africa  Action  Plan  on  Migration57  foresees  the  organisation  of  information 
campaigns  in  countries  of  origin,  transit  and  destination,  to  raise  awareness  amongst  the 
general  public  and  potential  migrants  and  victims  on  the  dangers  of  trafficking  in  human 
beings and smuggling of migrants and their recruitment processes. This included campaigns 
through  public  broadcasting  services  programmes  aimed  at  informing  about  the  migratory 
situation in Europe.  

Furthermore,  in  the  EU  Action  Plan  against  migrant  smuggling  (2015-2020),58  the 
Commission announced new information and prevention campaigns in key countries of origin 
or transit for migrants. 

55  Directive 2011/93/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on combating the 
sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, and replacing Council Framework 
Decision 2004/68/JHA.  

56 https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/europeaid/online-

services/index.cfm?do=publi.welcome&nbPubliList=25&orderby=upd&orderbyad=Desc&searchtype=RS&a
ofr=150632 

57  http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/international-summit/2015/11/11-12/.  
58  http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/e-library/documents/policies/asylum/general/docs/eu_action_plan_against_

migrant_smuggling_en.pdf. 

22 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Cooperation projects 

The EU and Member States continued to work towards increasing the protection capacities in 
third  countries,  along  the  main  axes  of  intervention  identified  in  the  Action  Plan.  The 
vulnerability  of  this  group  of  migrant  children  continued  to  be  regularly  addressed  in  the 
framework of migration and mobility dialogues with third countries.  

With  the  newly-established  Partnership  Framework  approach,  migration  is  fully  embedded 
into  EU  foreign  policy,  with  the  aim  to  address  its  root  causes,  to  combat  smuggling  of 
migrants  and  address  trafficking  in  human  beings,  to  improve  cooperation  including  for  the 
purposes  of  return and  readmission.  This  also includes  the  protection  of children  in  priority 
partner countries, and mobilising different kinds of EU support.  

The  protection  needs  of  unaccompanied  minors  are  addressed  for  instance  in  the  Political 
Declarations of the Mobility Partnerships and Common Agendas on Migration and Mobility.  

Practices and experiences in dealing with unaccompanied migrant children were shared in a 
number of meetings with third countries and regions such as the United States. This subject 
was  discussed  in  the  framework  of  the  EU-US  Cooperation  Platform  on  Migration  and 
Refugee issues, and the Latin America and Caribbean partners at the occasion of the IX High 
Level Meeting of the EU-CELAC Dialogue on Migration.  

Specific issues such as birth registration and statelessness among children are key concerns in 
a number of the priority countries. The EU, through the EEAS, is working with UNHCR to 
identify  the  countries  mostly  affected  by  the  problem  of  statelessness,  in  order  to  raise  the 
issue  with  the  governments  concerned.  For  this  purpose, UNHCR  provided  training  for  key 
EEAS and Commission staff in July 2015. 

The Declaration of the High Level Conference on the Eastern Mediterranean and the Western 
Balkan  Route,59  which  took  place  in  Luxembourg  on  8  October  2015,  reflects  the 
commitment of the EU  and the partner countries along this route to support and protect the 
more vulnerable victims of migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings, with special 
attention to children. 

This concern was also raised by the leaders of the EU and Africa, gathered at the EU-Africa 
Summit on Migration, held in Valletta on 11-12 November 2015. The EU-Africa Action Plan 
on  Migration  adopted  in  Valletta60  foresees  a  number  of  actions  to  prevent  children  from 
finding themselves in situations of risk and to ensure that they receive the adequate protection.  

Furthermore,  this  issue  has  also  been  approached  in  the  framework  of  the  European 
Parliament Panel on Migration and Asylum. A dedicated expert workshop on unaccompanied 
children seeking asylum took place in Kiev on 21-22 October 2015. The workshop allowed 
practitioners from the EU Member States and the Eastern partners to hold an open discussion 
about protection of children seeking asylum, ensuring their rights and to address child-specific 
needs throughout the asylum procedure. 

59  http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2015/10/08-western-balkans-route-conference-

declaration/. 

60  http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/international-summit/2015/11/11-12. 

23 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
The  Human  Rights  Dialogues  with  third  countries,  covering  also  children's  rights  and 
trafficking  in  human  beings,  have  continued,  and  cover  at  present  about  fifty  countries 
worldwide.  Children’s  rights  are  regularly  addressed  in  subcommittees  on  Justice,  Freedom 
and  Security  and  human  rights  informal  working  groups.  Recently,  in  these  different 
configurations,  children’s  rights  and  in  particular  child  protection  systems  were  raised  with 
Belarus, Ukraine, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the United Arab Emirates. 

The EU continued to implement the 2007 EU Guidelines on the Promotion and Protection of 
the  Rights  of  the  Child.61  In  the  context  of  the  ongoing  review  of  these  Guidelines  further 
emphasis  is  placed  on  unaccompanied  children.  The  EU  Action  Plan  on  Human  Rights  and 
Democracy  (2015-2019),62  adopted  in  July  2015,  renewed  the  commitment  to  attend  to  the 
needs  of  unaccompanied  children.  The  Council  Conclusions  on  the  Action  Plan  on  Human 
Rights  and  Democracy  2015-2019  state  in  action  24.e)  that  “Support  improved  access  to 
justice and health for migrants in countries of origin and transit; promote improved conditions 
of  detention  for  detained  migrants  and  alternatives  to  the  use  of  detention  for  irregular 
migrants  in  third  countries;  pay  particular  attention  in  this  regard  to  vulnerable  migrants 
including unaccompanied minors.” 

Likewise, the 7th,  8th  and 9th  editions of the European Forum on the  Rights  of the Child63 
helped  to  inform  the  Commission  and  other  EU  institutions  for  mainstreaming  children's 
rights across EU policies. 

Furthermore,  the  European  Migration  Forum64–  the  dialogue platform  on  migration,  asylum 
and migrant integration – met for the first time on 26 and 27 January 2015. The main theme of 
this  meeting  was  "Safe  routes,  safe  futures.  How  to  manage  the  mixed  flows  of  migrants 
across  the  Mediterranean?".  The  result  was  a  set  of  policy  recommendations,  which  were 
presented by four rapporteurs.65  

(c)Addressing trafficking in human beings 

Trafficking  in  human  beings  is  a  grave  violation  of  human  rights  and  a  serious  form  of 
organised crime, explicitly prohibited by Article 5 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights 
and with treaty references in Article 83 (organised crime) and Article 79 (irregular migration) 
TFEU. Children are a particularly vulnerable group66 to trafficking into the EU, within the EU 
and within individual Member States, as well as to re-trafficking and secondary victimisation.  
Child  trafficking  is  reported  by  Member  States  as  one  of  the  trends  that  is  increasing  most 
sharply  in  the  EU.  The  statistical  data  for  2013-2014  show  that  out  of  the  15,846  persons 
registered victims of trafficking in the EU, at least 2,375 were children. 2013-2014 show that 
out  of the 15,846 registered victims of trafficking  in  the EU, at least 2,375 were  children.67 

61  http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cmsUpload/16031.07.pdf.  
62  https://eeas.europa.eu/human_rights/docs/eu_action_plan_on_human_rights_and_democracy_en.pdf.  
63  http://ec.europa.eu/justice/fundamental-rights/rights-child/european-forum/index_en.htm. 
64  http://www.eesc.europa.eu/?i=portal.en.events-and-activities-european-migration-forum-1. 
65  http://www.eesc.europa.eu/resources/docs/1st-european-migration-forum_workshop-conclusions.pdf. 
66 Further information can be found in the Study on high risk groups for trafficking in human beings: 

https://ec.europa.eu/anti-
trafficking/sites/antitrafficking/files/study_on_children_as_high_risk_groups_of_trafficking_in_human_being
s_0.pdf.  

67 Report on the progress made in the fight against trafficking in human beings http://ec.europa.eu/anti-

trafficking/sites/antitrafficking/files/report_on_the_progress_made_in_the_fight_against_trafficking_in_huma
n_beings_2016.pdf 

24 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Although child trafficking is prevalent in situations unrelated to migration, the information in 
the Report on the progress made in fight against THB suggests that the phenomenon has been 
exacerbated by the ongoing migration crisis, during which the number of children arriving in 
the EU increased. A significant proportion of those children are unaccompanied, travelling to 
and in the EU without a responsible adult, or left unaccompanied after entering the EU and 
are a high risk group for trafficking in human beings.68 

Actions at EU level 

Since  the  adoption  of  the  Action  Plan,  special  efforts  have  already  been  implemented  to 
collect  data  on  trafficking  in  human  beings.  In  April  2013,  the  Eurostat  published  the  first 
Working Paper on Trafficking in Human Beings in Europe, including data for the years 2008- 
201069. In February 2015, a revised edition of the Working Paper was issued on statistics on 
trafficking  in  human  beings  for  the  years  2010-2012.70  The  totals71  and  percentages  in  the 
Working Paper are based on data from the 28 EU Member States and Montenegro, Norway 
Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey.  

According to the Eurostat statistical data for 2013- 2014 provided by Member States: 

 A total of 15,846 victims of trafficking were registered in the EU. Out of them, 2,375 
were children. 
 Trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation continues to be the most widespread 
form (67%), followed by labour exploitation (21%).  
 The  top  five  EU  countries  of  citizenship  for  registered  victims  continued  to  be 
Romania, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Hungary, and Poland, as for the years 2010-2012.   
 For non-EU citizens,  the top  five countries with the highest number of  victims were 
Nigeria, China, Albania, Vietnam and Morocco. 

The EU has developed a comprehensive legal and policy framework to address THB, which is 
human  rights  centred,  gender  specific  and  child  sensitive:  the  Directive  on  preventing  and 
combating THB and protecting its victims72, and the EU Strategy towards the Eradication of 
THB  2012-201673.  On  the  basis  of  the  Directive,  the  EU  Anti-trafficking  Coordinator  (EU 
ATC)  holds  the  mandate  of  monitoring  implementation,  improving  coordination  and 
coherence  between  EU  institutions  and  agencies  as  well  as  between  Member  States  and 
international  actors,  and  contribute  to  the  development  of  existing  or  new  EU  policies  and 
strategies relevant to addressing trafficking in human beings.  

68  Further information available, see Commission Staff Working Document accompanying the Report on the 
progress made in the fight against trafficking in human beings (2016) as required under Article 20 of 
Directive 2011/36/EU on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings and protecting its victims, 
SWD(2016) 159 final https://ec.europa.eu/anti-
trafficking/sites/antitrafficking/files/commission_staff_working_document.pdf 

69  https://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/sites/antitrafficking/files/trafficking_in_human_beings_-_dghome-

eurostat_en_1.pdf. 

70  https://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/sites/antitrafficking/files/eurostat_report_on_trafficking_in_human_beings_-

_2015_edition.pdf 

71  The number of identified and presumed victims registered by police, NGOs and other agencies are 

disaggregated by gender and detailed age. 

72  Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011. 
73  COM (2012) 286 final. 

25 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
The Anti-Trafficking Directive sets out a number of provisions based on the principle of the 
‘best interests of the child’, which require that Member States take into account the specific 
needs of child victims of trafficking ensuring child-sensitive support and protective measures. 

On  2  December  2016,  the  Commission  issued  two  Reports  under  Article  23  of  the  Anti-
trafficking Directive, with relevance also for unaccompanied children: a Report assessing the 
extent  to  which  Member  States  have  taken  the  necessary  measures  in  order  to  comply  with 
Directive  2011/36/EU  on  preventing  and  combating  trafficking  in  human  beings  and 
protecting its victims in accordance with Article 23 (1), and a Report assessing the impact of 
existing  national  law,  establishing  as  a  criminal  offence  the  use  of  services  which  are  the 
objects  of  exploitation  of  trafficking  in  human  beings,  on  the  prevention  of  trafficking  in 
human beings, in accordance with Article 23 (2) of the Directive 2011/36/EU74. 

The first Report,75 under  Article 23 (1), concluded that, while all Member States notified full 
transposition  of  the  Directive,  significant  room  for  improvement  still  remains  for  measures 
related to child victims, such as specific child protection measures, presumption of childhood 
and  child  age  assessment,  the  protection  before  and  during  criminal  proceedings,  access  to 
unconditional assistance, compensation, non-punishment, assistance and support to the family 
member  of  a  child  victim  as  well  as  prevention.  The  Second  Report,  under  Article  23  (2), 
concluded  that  Member  States  should  step  up  their  efforts  to  ensure  more  unified  and 
dissuasive action against the cross-border crime of trafficking in human beings.  

The  EU  Strategy  towards  the  Eradication  of  Trafficking  in  Human  Beings  2012-201676 
recognised  that  comprehensive  child-sensitive  protection  systems,  ensuring  interagency  and 
multidisciplinary  coordination  are  crucial  in  catering  to  the  needs  of  child  victims  of  THB. 
A mid-term  report  of  its  implementation  was  published  in  October  2014  including  specific 
references to the work delivered focusing on children within the anti-trafficking context.77 

The EU Anti-trafficking Strategy included specific deliverables related to children, including 
unaccompanied minors.78In the context of the EU Civil Society Platform against trafficking in 
human  beings,79  an  open  dialogue  on  child  trafficking  was  promoted,  bringing  together 
participants  from  across  the  EU  to  discuss  current  problems  and  exchange  practices.  An 
electronic platform was launched as a complement to the Platform, to enable the continuity of 
the  discussions  beyond  the  biannual  meetings  in  Brussels  and  to  ensure  that  these  are 
broadened  by  including  a  larger  number  of  organisations.  Furthermore,  in  2015  the 
Commission published a Study on children as a high risk group within trafficking in human 

74  https://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/sites/antitrafficking/files/report_on_impact_of_national_legislation_relate

d_to_thb_en.pdf. 

75  Section  2.2.4  Assistance  and  support  to  child  victims  (Article  14),  at  p  12  of  the  Report  and  Section2.2.6 
Assistance, support and protection for unaccompanied child victims fo trafficking in human beings (Article 
16). 

76   Communication  on  The  EU  Strategy  towards  the  Eradication  of  Trafficking  in  Human  Beings  2012–2016 

(COM (2012) 286 final). 

77  http://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/eu-policy/commission-staff-working-document-mid-term-report-

implementation-eu-strategy-towards_en.  

78  For more information on deliverables related to children, see Mid-term Report of the implementation of the 
EU Anti-Trafficking Strategy, http://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/eu-policy/commission-staff-working-
document-mid-term-report-implementation-eu-strategy-towards_en 

79  https://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/videos/eu-civil-society-platform-against-trafficking-human-beings-

statement-cecilia-malmstr%C3%B6m_en.  

26 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
beings, which examines the factors that render children vulnerable and resilient to trafficking 
in human beings.80  

The  Commission  has  also  worked  closely  with  the  EU  Agencies  with  a  view  to  developing  
practical/operational guidance relevant for children. The EU Anti-trafficking Strategy stressed 
that  effective  guardianship  systems  are  instrumental  in  preventing  abuse,  neglect  and 
exploitation.  

In  June  2014,  FRA  published  "Guardianship  for  children  deprived  of  parental  care:  A 
handbook",  which  was  designed  to  help  harmonise    guardianship  practice  in  the  Member 
States  while  ensuring  that  they  are  better  equipped  to  deal  with  the  specific  needs  of  child 
victims  of  trafficking.  The  Handbook  provided  Member  States  with  guidance  and 
recommendations  for  strengthening  their  guardianship  systems,  by  setting  out  the  core 
principles, fundamental design and management of such systems.  

In October 2015, FRA published a report on “Guardianship systems for children deprived of 
parental care”, based on research carried out in 2013, with a particular focus on the role of 
guardianship systems in responding to child trafficking.81 This report provides a comparative 
overview of national guardianship systems in EU 28 Member States pointing out disparities 
between the types of guardianship provided to children in and within the EU Member States 
and identifying main protection gaps. It explores the key features of guardianship systems put 
in place to cater for the needs of all children in need of protection. This includes child victims 
of trafficking in human beings or of other forms of exploitation and those at risk of becoming 
victims, such as unaccompanied children. The report helps to better understand the strengths 
and  weaknesses  of  national  guardianship  systems  and  could  also  assist  decision  makers  in 
taking measures to promote the effective protection of all children.82   

EASO  also  aims  at  supporting  the  EU  Strategy  towards  the  Eradication  of  Trafficking  in 
Human  Beings  (2012–16)  and  its  coherent  implementation.  For  this  purpose,  it  has  been 
working since 2013 on a set of specific activities addressing the issue of victims of trafficking 
in human beings in the context of asylum procedures, including asylum seeking children. In 
this context, EASO is currently finalising the development of the EASO Training Module on 
THB.  The  module  builds  on  two  levels  of  learning,  aimed  at  raising  awareness  of  asylum 
officials who can come across a potential victim of THB and developing skills in interviewing 
and  assessing  applications  for  international  protection  from  victims  of  THB.  The  EASO 
online platform on Trafficking in Human Beings has been launched to support the work of the 
EASO  Network  on  Trafficking  in  Human  Beings.  (EASO  THBNet).  The  platform  provides 
for EASO tools and resources, relevant materials from meetings expert workshops, details of 
upcoming meetings and contact details of the network members.  

In  addition, EASO  organises  Annual  Conferences on Trafficking in  Human Beings  (held  in 
March  2014,  May  2015  and  June  2016),  as  well  as  practical  workshops,  for  instance  on 
Trafficking and Nigeria (October 2015).  

Frontex developed a toolkit on combating trafficking by first and second line officers. Frontex 
now implements "train-the-trainer" courses based on the developed toolkit.  

80  http://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/node/4921.   
81  http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2015/guardianship-children-deprived-parental-care.  
82  See above.   

27 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Child  trafficking  has  been  identified  as  one  of  the  priorities  under  the  European 
Multidisciplinary Platform against Criminal Threats on Trafficking in Human Beings, within 
the  framework  of  the  EU  Policy  Cycle  for  organised  and  serious  international  crime.83 
Operationally,  the  Commission  further  provided  policy  and  financial  assistance,  and 
conducted joint operations across the EU for cracking down on networks of child trafficking.    

 Actions in the Member States  

In  the  majority  of  Member  States  (Austria,  Belgium,  Bulgaria,  Croatia,  Cyprus,  the  Czech 
Republic,  Estonia,  Greece,  Finland,  Hungary,  Ireland,  Latvia,  Luxembourg,  Malta,  the 
Netherlands,  Poland,  Portugal,  the  Slovak  Republic,  Spain,  Sweden,  the  United  Kingdom, 
Norway) border guards/police authorities receive special training to help identify children, in 
particular THB victims. 

The  EMN  Study  of  201584  provided  an  overview  of  prevention  and  development  projects 
implemented by Member States in third countries. Several Member States have implemented 
prevention and development projects in third countries to address the needs of unaccompanied 
children (or migrants in general) who seek to travel to the EU. The projects focused on: 

  Investment in education in third countries to improve access (educational aspirations 
constitute  one  of  the  reasons  for  fleeing  third  countries  and  seeking  protection  in  the 
EU),  reduce  poverty  and  increase  the  possibilities  for  employment  (Belgium,  France, 
Hungary, Luxembourg, Slovenia). 
 Measures  for  prevention  of  recruitment  of  child  soldiers,  prostitution  and 
establishment of protection centres (Germany). 
 Measures for prevention of trafficking in human beings (United Kingdom). 
 Awareness-raising  campaigns  on  migration  and  asylum  procedures  in  the  EU  in 
general and (Member) States in particular (Belgium, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Netherlands, 
Poland, Slovenia and Norway). 

The  2015  EMN  Study  also  illustrates  selected  best  practices  on  account  of  prevention  by 
some  Member  States.  For  example,  from  January  2013  to  June  2014  the  Netherlands  ran  a 
project  in  Afghanistan,  implemented  by  UNHCR  that  developed  an  awareness-raising 
campaign  geared  towards  preventing  vulnerable  children  from  abuse  and  improving  this 
group's access to protection services. The most important activities that took place in various 
parts of the country were:  

 Dialogue with local communities about child protection (abuse, violence, exploitation 
and neglect);  
 Providing  information  in  the  form  of  theatre  (due  to  illiteracy)  about  the  risks  of 
irregular migration;  
 TV  and  radio  campaigns  about  irregular  migration  and  the  vulnerability  of 
unaccompanied children during such travel; and  
 Campaign about the forced marriages of children. 

83  Council Conclusions on the creation and implementation of an EU policy cycle for organised and serious 

international crime, doc.15358/10 COSI 69 ENFOPOL 298 CRIMORG 185 ENFOCUSTOM 94. 

84  Section 2.3, at p. 14 of the Synthesis Report 

28 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
 
The  2015  EMN  Study  also  informs  that  the  measures  put  in  place  by  Member  States  to 
prevent disappearances have focused on a range of strategies, from building relationships of 
trust  with  the  unaccompanied  children,  through  close  monitoring  to  involving  multiple 
stakeholders who may come into contact with the children.  

Some Member States (Belgium, Finland, France) have reported that they focus on developing 
relationships with unaccompanied children staying in state residences. For example, Finland 
and France report aiming to establish a safe atmosphere, trust-based relationships with adults 
and  peer  support.  A  good  practice  example  of  efforts  made  to  prevent  absconding  of 
unaccompanied children from the Minor-Ndako reception centre in Belgium.85 

Various  Member  States  have  set  up  systems  to  register  and  monitor  unaccompanied 
children.86 In some Member States, such as Finland and the Netherlands, presumed victims of 
trafficking  are placed in protected reception, whereas intensive supervision  takes  place  over 
those residing at the open/campus location. In Portugal, unaccompanied children are required 
to ask permission to leave an open centre and are usually accompanied by an assistant. 

Actions  and  alerts  in  cases  of  missing  children,  including  unaccompanied  children,  are  in 
many Member States coordinated by NGOs. The practice in most Member States is that once 
the police are notified, they are responsible for undertaking a preliminary/ full investigation of 
the  disappearance  of  a  minor,  launching  a  missing  persons’  alert,  etc.  Examples  of  how 
Member  States  deal  with  disappearances  are  presented  in  the  2015  EMN  Study.  Special 
prevention  measures,  fast-track  asylum  procedures  or  guidance  for  national  authorities  in 
Belgium,  Norway  and  the  United  Kingdom,  aiming  to  reduce  the  disappearance  of 
unaccompanied  children,  are  examples  of  good  practice  in  the  protection  of  this  group 
highlighted in the Study. 

One of the primary challenges associated with the issue of unaccompanied children who go 
missing or abscond is prevention, i.e. ensuring their safety – both those in reception and care 
and  missing/absconding  unaccompanied  children  who  run  the  risk  of  being  trafficked  or 
smuggled – along with early identification of victims of trafficking.87 The lack of data on this 
group is also pointed out by most Member States as a main challenge. 

Some  Member  States  (Belgium,  Hungary,  Sweden)  call  for  more  coordination  at  national 
level,  a  clear  allocation  of  responsibilities  and  better  information  sharing  between  relevant 
actors (e.g. police, child protection authorities, NGOs, etc.) when preventing and dealing with 
disappearances. Other Member States, such as Hungary, have criticised the lack of adequate 
legal  representation  by  the  case  guardian  during  the  asylum  procedure,  as  well  as  late 
appointments of both case and child protection guardians which has hindered the protection of 
unaccompanied children and often led to disappearances. 

The 2015 EMN Study  identifies prevention measures as  one of the  most important areas of 
intervention  when  it  comes  to  disappearances  of  unaccompanied  children,  with  the  first  24 
hours  upon  arrival  of  an  unaccompanied  minor  in  such  a  facility  seen  as  critical  for 

85  Further details at p. 30 of the 2015 EMN Study.  
86  Further details at p. 30 of the 2015 EMN Study.  
87 Report on the progress made in the fight against trafficking in human beings http://ec.europa.eu/anti-
trafficking/sites/antitrafficking/files/report_on_the_progress_made_in_the_fight_against_trafficking_in_human_
beings_2016.pdf.  

29 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
establishing  a  relationship  of  trust  with  the  child  and  reducing  chances  of  his/her 
disappearance. Member States report the need for greater collaboration between all authorities 
dealing with this vulnerable group who may be prone to disappear. To date, a few (Member) 
States, including Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom have established protocols between 
authorities  in  order  to  prevent  and/or  respond  to  the  issue,  and  these  are  considered  to  be  a 
good practice. 

The Table below lists examples of good practices in the area of prevention that were reported 
by some Member States.  

Member States 

Belgium 

Ireland 

Romania 

Slovak Republic 

Sweden 

2015 promising practices reported 
Enhanced  activities  in  trainings  given  to  other  partners  engaged 
with  the  phenomenon  of  unaccompanied  children  and  victims  of 
human trafficking 
Irish  authorities  reported  that  they  are  about  to  publish  a  new 
National  Action  Plan,  containing  a  number  of  actions  which  are 
aimed at ensuring that a comprehensive child-sensitive protection 
system is in place.   
The  majority  of  third  country  children  discovered  at  border 
crossings  with  forged  or  falsified  documents  or  attempting  to 
illegally  cross  the  border,  seek  for  asylum  or  other  protection  in 
Romania.  

trafficking 

the  competent 

focusing  on  preventing 

There are support programs for child victims of THB, developed 
by 
institutions:  National  Agency  Against 
Trafficking  in  Persons,  National  Authority  for  Child  Protection 
and  Adoption,  etc.  with  duties  in  taking  over,  identification, 
counselling  and  repatriation  of  children  who  are  victims  of 
trafficking  in human beings.  Romania  - the General Inspectorate 
of  Romanian  Police  -  engaged  in  2015  in  carrying  out  training 
sessions 
in  human 
beings/migrants within the Mobility Partnership EU - Jordan. 
A national project called "Promotion of the Integration of Aliens 
in the Facilities for Social and Legal Protection of Children and 
Social  Curatorship"  was  in  preparation.  It  should  include 
activities  aimed  at  early  identification  of  victims  of  human 
trafficking with an aim to ensure the protection and re-integration 
of children. 
A  survey  on  children  suspected  of  being  victims  of  human 
trafficking  was  pursued.  In  the  survey,  210  suspected  cases  of 
children being victims of human trafficking were identified during 
the  period  2012-2015.  The  majority  of  the  children  were  15-17 
years  old  and  it  was  almost  as  many  boys  as  girls.  The  most 
common purpose behind suspected cases of human trafficking of 
children is sexual exploitation (50%), whereas 60% were girls and 
39% boys. Unaccompanied children were a particular vulnerable 
group (64% of the suspected cases). 

According  to  data  provided  by  the  Swedish  authorities,  the 
number of internal reports of suspected cases of human trafficking 

30 

 
 
 
 
 
 
has increased during 2015. Out of 195 internal reports, 66 related 
to  children.  The  most 
increased 
competence  among  employees  concerning  the  identification  of 
suspected victims of human trafficking. 

likely  explanation 

is  an 

(d) Visa applications submitted on behalf of children 

The Action Plan foresaw that Member States’ consular services should thoroughly assess visa 
applications submitted on behalf of children.  

As indicated in the 2015 EMN Study, unaccompanied children not seeking asylum are subject 
to  the  entry conditions  applicable to  third  country  nationals  wishing to  enter  the  EU,  which 
include  a  valid  visa  and  travel  document.  Asylum-seeking  unaccompanied  children  will 
always  be  allowed  entry  into  the  EU  territory,  regardless  of  whether  they  meet  the  entry 
requirements – in line with international humanitarian law.  

For non-asylum seeking unaccompanied children, the 2015 EMN Study distinguishes between 
Member States that can refuse entry to all third country nationals who do not fulfil the entry 
conditions,  including  unaccompanied  children,  and  those  that  apply  a  special  policy  to 
unaccompanied children based on humanitarian grounds and always grant those who are not 
asylum seekers access to the territory, regardless of whether they fulfil the entry conditions. 
Where  no  special  policy  applies,  non-asylum  seeking  unaccompanied  children  who  do  not 
fulfil  the  entry  conditions  may  be  ordered  to  return  to  their  country  of  origin  (subject  to 
conditions set out in Directive 2008/11//EC88 being met). See also further below for details on 
return actions.  

In  order  to  prevent  illegal  migration  of  travellers  obtaining  Schengen  visas  by  presenting 
forged or counterfeited passport and/or breeder documents, Frontex has developed a training 
tool for visa section staff embassies and consulates in third countries.  

Since February 2016, the Visa Information System (VIS) is operational worldwide, therefore 
fingerprints  are,  as  a  general  rule,  collected  from  visa  applicants  from  the  age  of  12  years, 
helping to prevent identity fraud and protecting children from falling victims of trafficking.  

The EU Commission is addressing as a priority the protection of children against recruitment 
and use by armed forces, groups and gangs. Inter alia, 6 projects are under implementation in 
Colombia,  the  Democratic  Republic  of  Congo,  the  Palestinian  Territories,  Sudan,  Lebanon 
and  Jordan  for  the  release  and  sustainable  socioeconomic  and  psychosocial  reintegration  of 
children taken out of armed forces, and for the prevention against recruitment.  

IV. RECEPTION AND PROCEDURAL GUARANTEES IN THE EU 

Ensuring  adequate  standards  on  reception  and  procedural  guarantees  for  all  unaccompanied 
minors  reaching  the  territory  of  the  Member  States  remained  a  key  priority  for  the  EU. 
Considerable steps have been taken towards strengthening both the EU legislative framework 

88  Directive 2008/115/EC http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:348:0098:0107:en

PDF. 

31 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
                                                            
and the operational support provided to those Member States mostly affected by the migration 
and refugee crisis (such as via the hotspots in Greece and Italy). These efforts need now to be 
stepped  up,  with  the  current  legislative  reform  proposals  embedding  child  protection 
standards  in  all  relevant  procedures  being  adopted  by  co-legislators  and  with  full 
implementation  being  guaranteed  by  the  Member  States.  In  parallel,  operational  support  by 
the  Commission  and  the  relevant  EU  agencies  to  certain  Member  States  needs  to  be 
continued, so as to ensure that child protection standards are upheld in all situations. 

IV.1 Procedures at first arrival and standards of protection 

(a) Legislative action at EU level 

The  reform  of  the  CEAS89  adopted  in  2011-2013,  has  significantly  increased  the  protection 
standards  that  Member  States  should  grant  to  unaccompanied  children  and  other  vulnerable 
groups seeking to obtain international protection in the EU. In particular, the principle of the 
best interests of the child has been explicitly embedded in the CEAS instruments90 and  key 
provisions  on  unaccompanied  children  have  been  strengthened,  guaranteeing  inter  alia  the 
right  to  family  reunification,  enhanced  procedural  safeguards  throughout  the  asylum 
procedure, suitable accommodation, prompt access to health and education, protection against 
arbitrary  detention  which  is  allowed  only  in  exceptional  circumstances,  and  never  in  prison 
accommodation.  

A  compilation  of  EU  acquis  on  the  rights  of  the  child  lists  and  links  all  legislation  and 
proposals is available on the Commission's website. 91  

The  Commission  has  launched  several  studies  assessing  completeness  and  compliance  of 
Member  States'  legislations  with  the  asylum  acquis  standards,  and  it  continuously  monitors 
Member States' practices and legal obligations.  

The 2015 EMN Study has also shown that, while the CEAS asylum acquis and international 
law  provide  numerous  guarantees  for  unaccompanied  children  applying  for  international 
protection, unaccompanied children who are not in the asylum procedure do not benefit from 
the  same  level  of  protection  and  guarantees.92  Other  gaps  that  were  identified  concern  the 
cooperation  and  coordination  between  different  authorities  dealing  with  unaccompanied 
minors in the Member States and across borders, and in particular protracted procedures for 
family tracing and reunification based on the Dublin rules.  

Guardianship 

89  Comprising:  the  recast  Qualification  Directive  (Directive  2011/95/EU);  the  recast  Asylum  Procedures 
Directive  (Directive  2013/32/EU);  the  recast  Reception  Conditions  Directive  (Directive  2013/33/EU);  the 
Eurodac  Regulation  (Regulation  (EU)  No 603/2013  of  26  March  2013)  and  the  Dublin  III  Regulation 
(Regulation (EU) No 604/2013 of 26 March 2013).   

90  Art.  6  (1)  of  Dublin  III  Regulation,  recital  35  of  Eurodac  Regulation,  recital  33  of  the  recast  Asylum 
Procedures  Directive,  recital  18  of  the  recast  Qualification  Directive,  recital  9  and  article  23(2)  of  the 
Reception Conditions Directive. 

91   http://ec.europa.eu/justice/fundamental-rights/files/acquis_rights_of_child.pdf 
92  For example, some Member States do not have guardianship arrangements in place for unaccompanied 

children (other than legal representation arrangements for the asylum procedure), and this holds particularly 
true for unaccompanied children who are not asylum applicants.  

32 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
The FRA Handbook on Guardianship provides guidance on ways to strengthen guardianship 
systems,  setting  forth  the  core  principles,  fundamental  design  and  management  of  such 
systems.  Further  information  on  Member  States’  practices  of  guardianship,  including 
distinction between the concepts of ‘guardian’ and ‘(legal) representative’, may be found in 
the outputs of the CONNECT project,93 and the National Reports produced for the 2015 EMN 
Study.94 

The EU-funded CONNECT project reference document provides a useful overview table of 
most of the key asylum and migration laws regarding unaccompanied children, with different 
entry points, reflecting all legislation adopted up to 2014, with child-related provisions.95  

The  2015  EMN  Study  emphasised  the  diversity  of  arrangements  in  the  Member  States  in 
terms  of  the  type  of  representative  i.e.  guardian,  lawyer,  and/or  both,  the  timing  for  the 
appointment of a representative.  

The March 2016 Commission on Report on the progress made in the fight against trafficking 
in  human  beings96  also  revealed  many  challenges  and  gaps  in  the  area  of  guardianship, 
including  on  aspects  such  as  training,  qualifications,  the  mandate  and  the  role  of  appointed 
guardians and the monitoring of their performance.  

The 2015 EMN Study also pointed to existent gaps and shortfalls in terms of providing for a 
prompt  and  effective  guardianship  for  the  unaccompanied  children,  which  is  essential  for 
safeguarding  their  rights.  Significant  challenges  in  the  guardianship  national  systems  have 
been identified also in the FRA comparative research on the topic,97 such as the shortage of 
qualified guardians in some Member States, the need to provide the necessary training to the 
guardians, and the lack of monitoring mechanisms for the performance of guardians. 

These issues should be partly remedied by the further reform of the CEAS proposed by the 
Commission  in  May  and  July  2016.98  In  particular,  the  proposal  for  an  Asylum  Procedures 
Regulation99 contains provisions to strengthen the guardianship systems in the Member States 
(including prompt appointment, availability of guardians in function of the number of children 
needing  their  protection,  ensuring  that  guardians  have  suitable  qualifications,  introducing 
systems  for  monitoring  the  performance  of  guardians).  The  proposal  for  a  recast  Dublin 
Regulation100 aims to secure quicker determination of the Member State responsible, making 
the best interests of the child assessment more operational and promoting closer cooperation 
between Member States.  

93  http://www.connectproject.eu/.  
94  Available at www.emn.europa.eu.  
95   http://www.connectproject.eu/PDF/CONNECT-EU_Reference.pdf. 
96  At http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/organized-crime-and-human-trafficking/trafficking-in-

human-
beings/docs/commission_report_on_the_progress_made_in_the_fight_against_trafficking_in_human_beings_2016_
en.pdf.  

97  See FRA report of June 2014 on Guardianship for children deprived of parental care at  

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/e-library/docs/guardianship_for_children/ 
guardianship_for_children_deprived_of_parental_care_en.pdf, and FRA Handbook of October 2015 on 
Guardianship systems for children deprived of parental care in the European Union at 
http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2015/guardianship-children-deprived-parental-care.  

98  See http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-1620_en.htm  and http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-

2433_en.htm . 

99  COM(2016) 467 final.  
100 COM(2016) 270 final.  

33 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
(b) Guidance from the EU Agencies 

EASO has put in practice several tools regarding the reception conditions, asylum procedures 
and  integration  of  unaccompanied  children.  More  precisely,  in  the  reporting  period  the 
Agency has developed several training modules for asylum officers on:  

 

 

Interviewing children - provides asylum officials with: 
  knowledge and skills in children’s development stages;  
  specific techniques for interviewing children;  
  knowledge and skills on how to assess the information given by a child;  

Interviewing vulnerable persons, which takes the participant through the process of 
preparing and conducting an interview with a vulnerable person in a professional, 
respectful  and  emphatic  manner.  Furthermore,  the  module  focuses  on  specialised 
knowledge  on  indicators  of  vulnerability,  mental  and  physical  impairments;  and 
provides advice on addressing difficult situations, as well as the interviewer’s own 
needs. 

  Gender, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation, which aims to raise awareness and  
knowledge  on  applicants  for  international  protection,  including  children,  whose 
human rights are being violated because of their gender, gender identity or sexual 
orientation. The upgraded version of the EASO Training Module on COI presents 
an enhanced, section on child-focused COI (research tools, sources).  

In  2014,  EASO  launched  its  Network  on  Activities  on  Children  aimed  at  facilitating  the 
exchange  of  relevant  information,  best  practices  among  the  practitioners  with  thematic 
meetings organised on Best Interest of the Child, Age Assessment, Family Tracing, Children 
and the Dublin Regulation and Trafficking of Children. 

In  2015,  EASO  completed  a  comprehensive  mapping  of  national  mechanisms  for  the 
identification of persons with special needs, the special procedural guarantees and respective 
reception  conditions  in  place  for  all  categories  of  persons  with  special  needs  as  per  the 
Reception  Conditions  Directive,  including  unaccompanied  children.  The  ‘Quality  Matrix 
Report:  Identification  of  persons  with  special  needs’  (2015)  is  available  for  internal  use  to 
Member States, EASO, the Commission and other relevant institutions of the EU, as well as 
UNHCR.  

In addition, EASO developed a practical tool for identification of persons with special needs, 
including  unaccompanied  children.  The  tool  provides  practical  information  necessary  for 
timely  identification,  as  well  as  generic  guidance  on  special  procedural  guarantees  and 
reception  support.  The  guidance  is  based  on  the  standards  of  the  EU  asylum  acquis  and 
commonly agreed good practices.101  

In  2013,  FRA  and  EASO  signed  a  bilateral  cooperation  agreement,  which  covers  the 
provision  of  training,  quality  support,  operational  cooperation,  research,  information  and 
analysis,  as  well  as  horizontal  cooperation.  FRA  is  supporting  EASO’s  work  related  to 

101  https://ipsn.easo.europa.eu.  

34 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
vulnerable  groups  of  persons,  including  unaccompanied  children,  and  the  development  of 
EASO training material and tools on children.    

FRA “Checklist to act in compliance with fundamental rights when obtaining fingerprints for 
Eurodac”  includes  child  specific  safeguards.  It  suggests  that  no  fingerprints  for  Eurodac 
should  be  obtained  from  children  if  there  is  doubt  concerning  whether  or  not  they  have 
reached 14 years of age.102 Furthermore, the weekly, and as of January 2016 monthly, reports 
produced by FRA in 14 Member States,103 including information on reception conditions for 
children and safeguards at registration and in asylum and return procedures, are shared with 
EASO and Frontex.104 

As  regards  Frontex,  the  amendments  introduced  to  the  Schengen  Borders  Code  and  the 
Schengen Handbook (Practical handbook for border guards) in 2013 made it obligatory to the 
Member  States  to  nominate  national  contact  points  for  consultation  on  children  and  to  use 
them in case of doubt (e.g., in case there is a need to check if an unaccompanied minor is not 
leaving against the wish of the person(s) having parental custody). In this regard, the common 
core  curricula  has  been  amended  by  Frontex  to  include  further  fundamental  rights 
considerations  for  the  daily  work  of  border  guards  in  any  circumstance,  with  specific 
emphasis  on  vulnerable  groups  such  as  unaccompanied  children  and  the  need  to  promptly 
refer them to the competent protection authorities. The curriculum sets the basic standards of 
education for any border guard function within the EU. 

Frontex  included  in  its  working  arrangements  with  third  countries  clauses  covering 
fundamental  rights.  In  the  last  working  arrangement  negotiated,  the  standard  clause  dealing 
with fundamental rights reads as follows: 'In the implementation of the intended cooperation, 
Frontex and the Third Country involved, in their respective capacities, afford full respect for 
human rights, as enshrined in international laws and principles.' The working arrangements to 
be concluded with third countries also cover vulnerable groups, including children, as well as 
the status agreements for staff deployed in activities of the Agency in third countries. 

The  recently  adopted  European  Border  and  Coast  Guard  Regulation105  provides  that  the 
Agency,  in  cooperation  with  the  appropriate  training  entities  of  Member  States,  EASO  and 
FRA,  should  develop  specific  training  tools,  including  specific  training  in  the  protection  of 
children. In addition, migration management support teams shall include staff with expertise 
in child protection.  

Frontex  Training  Unit  organises  “Trainings  on  advanced  skills  for  the  detection  of  falsified 
documents”.  The  concept  of  the  training  is  based  on  the  “train  the  trainer”  principle.  The 
target  group  for  this  level  of  training  is  the  officers  operating  in  the  back-offices  who  are 
responsible for checking, in further detail, travel documents that have aroused the suspicion of 
the frontline officers. Two main groups of officers are targeted: Experienced Advanced level 
officers  or  Specialist  Level  Officers  as  specified  in  the  Framework  for  harmonised 
programme for the training of document examiners (Council Doc. No. 9951/07). 

102  http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2015/fundamental-rights-implications-obligation-provide-fingerprints-

eurodac.  

103  As of November 2016. 
104  http://fra.europa.eu/en/news/2015/fra-weekly-reporting-people-seeking-international-protection.  
105  

OJ L 251, 16.9.2016, p. 1. 

35 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
(c) Border-related measures regarding unaccompanied children  

Actions at EU level 

The treatment  of children at the external borders is  assessed in  the context  of the Schengen 
evaluation  visits.  During  the  evaluation  visits  particular  attention  is  paid  to  the  respect  of 
fundamental  rights  in  the  application  of  the  Schengen  acquis.  Experts  participating  in 
evaluations receive appropriate training on fundamental rights in Schengen evaluation border 
management.  In  all  Schengen  evaluation  visits,  the  general  rules  of  the  Schengen  Borders 
Code  on  children  are  to  be  verified  (e.g.  availability  and  implementation  of  VEGA 
Handbook).  The  Standard  Questionnaire  which  covers  the  relevant  legislation,  commonly 
agreed recommendations and best practices, also refers to situations and procedures involving 
unaccompanied  children.  The  experts  then  verify  the  application  of  the  Schengen  acquis 
during their on-site visits. 

Frontex  offered  its  Fundamental  Rights  training  for  Border  Guards  to  a  number  of  third 
countries  in  the  context  of  the  implementation  of  technical  assistance  projects  and  of  the 
Working Arrangements that Frontex has with those states. 

Frontex has also developed the Vega Handbook: Children at Airports (finalised July 2015, to 
be tested as a pilot phase first) aimed at increasing border guards' awareness of children and 
situations of risk for children crossing the external air borders of the EU, unaccompanied or 
not. It can improve identification of children on the move at risk at airports, while ensuring 
respect for child rights and enhancing activities against criminal threats to their safety. In the 
2014  Joint  Operation  Vega  Children  (17  September  2014  –  18  November  2014)  Frontex 
tested the aforementioned handbook at air borders. Following the testing phase, in the course 
of 2015 and upon the recommendations collected during the evaluation phase of the activities, 
Frontex implemented two phases of the Vega Children joint operation at air borders (from 12 
June 2015 until 8 July 2015 and from 26 August 2015 until 5 October 2015) corresponding to 
the end and beginning of school periods, when children are mostly expected to travel. Frontex 
will deliver the public version of the Handbook to Third Country authorities that have signed 
a  working  arrangement  and/or  a  cooperation  plan  with  the  agency.  The  involvement  of  the 
same authorities in the Joint Operation Vega Children 2016 is also planned. 

In 2012, a study was undertaken at the request of the Commission to look at the requirements 
specific to children, travelling alone or accompanied, legally entering or leaving the Member 
States/associated  countries.106  In  the  follow-up  to  the  study,  the  Commission  published  in 
2013 a report on the requirements for children crossing the external  borders of the Member 
States.107 The report looks at the legislation at the EU and national level as well as practices 
with  regard  to  the  requirements  for  crossing  borders,  including  the  questions  of  parental 
authorisation.  The  report  encouraged  the  Member  States  to  develop  appropriate  national 
coordination  mechanisms  for  travelling  children  and  to  inform  the  border  crossing  points 
about these mechanisms so that border guards know whom to contact in which situation and 
what the responsibilities between the different actors are. 

Frontex  has  implemented  a  basic  fundamental  rights  course  for  its  staff  that  makes  specific 
reference  to  the  need  to  carefully  deal  with  children  and  unaccompanied  children  during 

106  http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/e-library/documents/policies/borders-and-visas/general/docs/final_report_home-

2010-ebfx-pr-1001_pdf.pdf. 

107  http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013DC0567.   

36 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
border management activities. The course has now been running for 3 years and the Agency is 
committed  to  its  continuation.  Further  development  of  specialised  courses  for  Frontex  staff 
will follow.  

Furthermore,  explicit  mentions  of  children  and  unaccompanied  children  are  included 
throughout  the  Manual  on  Fundamental  Rights  for  Border  Guards.  Conditions  for  the 
protection of unaccompanied children are specifically foreseen in the areas of reception and 
assistance, as well as in interviewing. The aforementioned Manual highlights the international 
and European standards in the area of deprivation of liberty, noting these can only be used as 
the last resort and only for the shortest possible period of time. 

The  internal  Guidelines  for  Frontex  debriefing  activities  specifically  exclude  intelligence 
gathering with children under 18 years to avoid any interference with the rights of the child 
and the principle of best interest.  

Operational  plans  of  Frontex  Joint  Operations  include  basic  mentions  of  unaccompanied 
children’ referral mechanism in operational areas, so that guest officers deployed familiarise 
themselves  with  the  protection  mechanism  in  the  host  Member  State.  Pre-deployment 
briefings  include  mentioning  unaccompanied  children  as  an  especially  vulnerable  category 
where in case of doubt, “presumption of minority” should be the approach taken.  

The  recently  adopted  European  Border  and  Coast  Guard  Regulation  addresses  a  number  of 
strengthened  child  protection  aspects.  The  Agency  should  fulfil  its  tasks  in  full  respect  for 
fundamental  rights  and  relevant  international  law,  including  the  United  Nations  Convention 
on the Rights of the Child. The child's best interests are to be a primary consideration in the 
activities  of  the  Agency.  The  code  of  conduct  applicable  to  all  border  control  operations 
coordinated by the Agency and all persons participating in the activities of the Agency shall 
lay  down  procedures  intended  to  guarantee  the  principles  of  the  rule  of  law  and  respect  for 
fundamental rights with particular focus on children and unaccompanied children. 

In  addition,  a  complaints  mechanism  is  to  be  set  up  to  monitor  and  ensure  the  respect  for 
fundamental  rights  in  all  the  activities  of  the  Agency.  The  Agency  shall  ensure  that 
information about the possibility and procedure for making a complaint is readily available, 
including for vulnerable persons or any party representing such persons. 

The  European  Border  and  Coast  Guard  Regulation  also  calls  for  a  revision  of  the 
Fundamental  Rights  Strategy  and  action  plan,  including  on  children  in  migration  to  be 
adopted  in  2017.  Particular  actions  on  children  in  migration  will  be  included  in  the  action 
plan, 
that  sufficient  attention  and  specific  needs  of  children,  specially 
unaccompanied, are covered during Agency’s activities. 

to  ensure 

FRA  has  pursued  research  on  Treatment  of  third-country  nationals  at  the  EU’s  external 
borders: Surveying border checks at selected border crossing points. This research presents 
the  human  rights  situation  at  the  EU's  borders  where  asylum  seekers  as  well  as  victims  of 
trafficking for labour and sexual exploitation and for organ extradition may also first enter the 
EU. Three reports were published by FRA presenting the human rights situation at the EU's 
southern sea borders (October 2013), the EU’s air (October 2014) and the EU's land borders 
(November 2014) where asylum seekers as well as victims of trafficking for labour and sexual 
exploitation and for organ extraction may first enter the EU: 

37 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Fundamental rights at Europe’s southern sea borders;108 
  Fundamental  rights  at  airports:  border  checks  at  five  international  airports  in  the 

European Union Summary;109 

  Fundamental  rights  at  land  borders:  findings  from  selected  European  Union  border 

crossing points.110   

The  reports  covered  also  the  treatment  of  children  and  revealed  challenges  and  gaps  in  the 
identification,  registration  and  treatment  of  children  at  the  borders,  including  detention 
practices and lack of referral of children to child protection authorities. 

The  FRA  Handbook  on  European  law  relating  to  the  rights  of  the  child111  aims  to  raise 
awareness  and  improve  the  knowledge  of  the  legal  standards  that  protect  and  promote 
children’s  rights  in  Europe.  It  is  a  point  of  reference  on  both  EU  and  Council  of  Europe 
('CoE')  law  related  to  these  subjects,  explaining  how  each  issue  is  regulated  under  EU  law, 
including  the  Charter  of  Fundamental  Rights  of  the  European  Union,  as  well  as  under  the 
European  Convention  on  Human  Rights,  the  European  Social  Charter  and  other  CoE 
instruments. 

The  Handbook  on  European  law  relating  to  asylum,  borders  and  immigration  was  jointly 
produced by the European Court of Human Rights and FRA. It examines relevant law in the 
field  of  asylum,  borders  and  immigration  stemming  from  both  European  systems:  the 
European  Union  and  the  Council  of  Europe.  It  provides  an  accessible  guide  to  the  various 
European standards relevant to asylum, borders and immigration. Chapter nine is devoted to 
persons with specific needs and covers unaccompanied children.112 

 (d) Age assessment 

Actions at the EU level 

As migrants often arrive to Europe undocumented, it is sometimes necessary to perform age 
assessment  in  order  to  assess  whether  a  migrant  is  a  minor and  therefore  in  need  of  special 
protection.  The  grounds,  timing  and  methods  used  across  the  Member  States  for  age 
assessment  vary  widely.  The  Asylum  Procedures  Directive  provides  some  minimum 
safeguards for the benefit of the asylum-seeking minors, including the need to obtain his/her 
and the guardian’s consent to performing medical examinations, and the obligation to treat the 
person as a minor whenever the age assessment is inconclusive. Age assessment should only 
be used where there are grounds for serious doubt about an individual’s age. Recognising that 
age assessment is not absolutely precise, in cases of doubt, authorities should treat the person 
as a child and grant the right to appeal age assessment decisions.  

108 http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fundamental-rights-europes-southern-sea-borders-jul-13_en.pdf.  
109 http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra-2014-third-country-nationals-airport-border-

checks_summary_en.pdf.  

110 http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra-2014-third-country-nationals-land-border-checks_en.pdf.  
111 http://fra.europa.eu/en/project/2014/handbook-european-law-rights-child/publications.  
112 FRA, 2014, Handbook on European law relating to asylum, borders and immigration: 

http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2013/handbook-european-law-relating-asylum-borders-and-immigration.  

38 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
In  2013,  EASO  published  its  study  on  Age  Assessment  Practice  in  Europe  (2013).113  This 
publication  seeks  to  highlight  the  key  points  and  procedural  safeguards,  in  accordance  with 
international,  European  and  national  legislations,  which  should  be  taken  into  consideration 
when  undertaking  age  assessment.  It  includes  several  reference  tools  to  support  users 
including; a SWOT analysis of the age assessment methods in use, checklists, a mapping of 
the  methods  used  by  EU+  countries,  instances  of  Member  State  practice  and  expert 
recommendations, a glossary and a summary of the legal provisions on the issue.  

In  2016,  EASO  began  the  development  of  a  new  edition  of  the  publication  EASO  Age 
assessment  practice  in  Europe.  This  revised  edition  is  aimed  at  exploring  new  methods  to 
assess  the  age  in  full  compliance  with  the  best  interest  of  the  child  and  the  necessary 
procedural  safeguards.  It  will  include  practical  recommendations  and  provide  guidance  for 
age  assessment  process  following  a  holistic  approach.  It  will  finally  present  an  updated 
mapping of the current methods in use in the EU+. 

EASO has also provided operational support to Cyprus and Bulgaria regarding issues related 
to unaccompanied children (age assessment, guardianship and representation, identification of 
vulnerable persons. 

FRA research114 has shown that age disputes lead to delays in the appointment of a guardian, 
since  in  practice  often  it  is  necessary  to  complete  age  assessment  procedures  before  a 
guardian is appointed. Age disputes and ineffective age assessment procedures, as well as a 
lack or disregard of safeguards, may also result in detention of unaccompanied children.  

Age assessment procedures are also important in the context of child trafficking, as children 
are sometimes instructed by traffickers and criminal networks to state that they are adults. The 
Anti-trafficking Directive sets forth the presumption of childhood. 

Actions in EU Member States  

The 2013 EASO study on Age Assessment Practice in Europe115 provides further information 
on  age  assessment  arrangements  and  practices  in  the  Member  States.  The  new  edition  will 
include an update mapping of the current methods in use. 

Romania reported that if the asylum seeker claims to be minor and there are no serious doubts 
about this claim, he/she will be considered a minor. In case the unaccompanied minor cannot 
prove his age and there are serious doubts, a forensic assessment of age determination of the 
applicant is conducted. Prior consent in writing of the minor and of the legal representative is 
requested.  If  the  asylum  seeker  and/or  his/her  legal  representative  refuse  the  forensic  age 
assessment and no conclusive evidence are brought, he/she will be considered an adult. 

 (c) Funding 

According to the Action Plan, the Commission has provided EU funding in order to support 
several  initiatives  and  projects  such  as  European  networks  of  guardians,  exchange  of  good 

113 http://www.google.be/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0ahUKEwiIxMfgic_KAhUCxx
oKHQr0BHwQFgggMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.refworld.org%2Fpdfid%2F532191894.pdf&usg=AF
QjCNGkozCJoL2n4S9-YT2CZXFxVCbFpA&bvm=bv.113034660,d.d2s.  

114 See above.  
115 See footnote 132. [this does not seem to be correct] 

39 

 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
practices  and  the  development  of  guidelines,  common  curricula  and  training,  etc.  Several 
projects  have  been  EU-  funded  under  the  Fundamental  Rights  and  Citizenship  Programme, 
the  Rights, Equality  and  Citizenship  Programme  and  the  Justice  Programme.  Some  of  them 
target migrant unaccompanied children.116 

reception  capacities, 

The EU has also provided financial support to Member States in order to establish reception 
facilities  meeting  the  specific  needs  of  unaccompanied  children.  The  reinforcement  of  EU 
for 
Member  States' 
unaccompanied  children,  is  among  the  funding  priorities  of  most  of  the  Member  States' 
national  programmes  under  the  AMIF  for  the  period  2014-2020,  including  particularly 
frontline  Member  States,  who  are  facing  particular  challenges  regarding  unaccompanied 
children. Support to an effective guardianship system is also mentioned as a funding priority 
at least for some of them. In addition, through emergency assistance under AMIF funding has 
also  been  provided  to  increase  such  type  of  reception  facilities  in  countries  such  as  Greece 
since the beginning of 2015. 

including  adequate 

reception 

facilities 

(e) Children going missing  

An increasing number of minors who reach Europe abscond or disappear within a short period 
after  arrival.  The  phenomenon  of  missing  children  gives  rise  to  serious  concerns,  and  the 
information  on  these  children  is  incomplete  and  fragmented.  The  2013  Study  on  missing 
children117  revealed  that  responses  to  missing  unaccompanied  children  are  often  different 
across  Member  States,  and  suggested  a  provisional  set  of  common  EU-wide  indicators  on 
missing children that could be used for comparative analysis.118  

The topic of missing children was discussed with the informal expert group on the rights of 
the child in February 2014 and in December 2015.119   

The EU has funded several projects on missing unaccompanied children which assessed the 
phenomenon and made several recommendations: 

 

Italian  SIS  SIRENE  project  -  VIGILA  ET  PROTÉGÉ  –  to  search  for  and  protect 
unaccompanied minors– fight against invisibility 

This document contains information about the current situation of unaccompanied children as 
well the work done through the project, which has tried to identify solutions as necessary, for 
changes  to  the  SIRENE  Manual  and  to  the  catalogue  of  best  practices  both  of  Schengen 
Information  System  (SIS)/SIRENE  and  Police  Cooperation  and  by  creating  technical 
solutions to facilitate and ensure completeness of the information transferred in case of a hit 
about an unaccompanied minor.   

116 A  compilation  of  all  EU-  funded  projects  on  rights  of  the  child  and  violence  against  children from  the 
Fundamental  Rights  and  Citizenship  Programme  (2007-2013),  the  Rights,  Equality  and  Citizenship 
Programme  (2014-2020),  and  the  Justice  Programme  (2014-2020),  from  2013  to  present  is  available  at 
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/image/document/2016-
49/compilation_previously_funded_projects_rights_of_the_child_and_violence_against_children_40298.pdf. 

117 See http://ec.europa.eu/justice/fundamental-rights/files/missing_children_study_2013_en.pdf.   
118 Including  among  others:  the  number  of  cases  of  children  reported  missing  per  100,000  children,  the 
proportion  of  females  and  of  children  aged  0-12  and  0-14  in  the  total  number  of  cases;  the  number  of 
applications to the central authorities for the Hague Convention per 100,000 children; and the proportion of 
runaways in the total number of missing children cases. 

119 http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regexpert/index.cfm?do=groupDetail.groupDetail&groupID=2884.  

40 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
The  project  concluded  amongst  others  that  fingerprint  identification  of  all  unaccompanied 
children  without  age  limit  upon  their  entry  into  the  EU  is  a  primary  tool  to  ensure  their 
subsequent identification and protection. This should include all unaccompanied children and 
not only those who have gone missing. The EU databases however only partially provide this 
possibility due to their specific scope i.e. SIS only covers missing children. In Eurodac the age 
limit for registration of fingerprints of children is 14 years and only the data of asylum seekers 
and  persons  crossing  the  border  irregularly  are  registered.  Moreover,  due  to  the  legal 
restrictions  in  Eurodac  children  who  do  not  launch  any  asylum  application  will  remain 
undetected if they abscond, as their fingerprints cannot be compared with the fingerprints of 
children found on the territory in irregular circumstances.   

The  project  also  identified  the  challenges  related  to  the  identification  of  unaccompanied 
children in SIS and the need to develop a fingerprint recognition functionality. To this end the 
Commission  has  adopted  a  report  pursuant  to  Art.  22  c)  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  1987/2006 
and  Council  Decision  2007/533/JHA  on  the  establishment,  operation  and  use  of  the  second 
generation Schengen Information System.120 The implementation is to be expected by the end 
of 2017.  

  The SUMMIT project .eu/SUMMIT  

The project Safeguarding Unaccompanied Migrant Minors from going Missing by Identifying 
Best  Practices  and  Training  Actors  on  Interagency  Cooperation  co-funded  by  the  EU  under 
the  Pilot  Project  “Analysis  of  reception,  protection  and 
integration  policies  for 
unaccompanied minors in the EU,  was launched in October 2014 . The project specifically 
looked  to  combine  the  experience  of  both  the  actors  which  primarily  deal  with  the  care  of 
unaccompanied children and those which focus on disappearances of children, including law 
enforcement and hotlines for missing children.  A Report on best practices and key challenges 
for interagency cooperation to safeguard unaccompanied children from going missing121 was 
published in March 2016. 

SIS  II  is  an  important  instrument  for  cross-border  cooperation  and  protection  of  missing 
unaccompanied children that needs to be used to its full in order to facilitate identification of 
missing children. A SIS II alert on a missing child is within seconds made available to police 
officers  and  border  guards  in  all  29  EU  and  Schengen  countries  participating  in  SIS  II.  It 
contains  information  to  identify  the  missing  child  (with  the  possibility  to  add  pictures  and 
fingerprints)  and  an  instruction  on  what  to  do  when  the  child  has  been  found.  In  case  of  a 
missing  child,  the  instruction  is  always  to  place  the  child  under  protection.   Supplementary 
information on the details of the case (for example, that it concerns an unaccompanied child) 
are  exchanged  through  the  national  SIRENE  Bureaux,  24/7  operational  Single  Points  of 
Contact in all countries participating in SIS II.    

While most Member States appear to include alerts on missing children in SIS II, in at least 
four Member States missing children would only be included if there are reasons to believe 
that the child has been taken abroad. In 2015, there were 55,989 alerts for missing children in 

120 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2016:93:FIN.  
121 http://missingchildreneurope.eu/Portals/0/Docs/Best%20practices%20and%20key%20challenges%20for%20i
nteragency%20cooperation%20to%20safeguard%20unaccompanied%20migrant%20children%20from%20go
ing%20missing.pdf.  

41 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
SIS  II.122  However,  it  is  not  known  how  many  related  to  unaccompanied  children.  There  is 
currently no distinction in SIS II between missing unaccompanied children and other types of 
child  disappearances.  Therefore  it  is  not  possible  to  provide  data  on  the  number  of 
unaccompanied children for whom an alert has been issued in SIS II.  

The  identification  and  registration  of  children,  including  unaccompanied  children,  entering 
EU  territory  are  key  factors  contributing  to  their  protection  and  to  address  the  issue  of 
children going missing. However, formal registration procedures in some Member States do 
not always allow for their identification when they cross borders. One of the challenges with 
regards  to  missing  unaccompanied  children  is  that  sometimes  the  authorities  do  not  have 
enough information on the missing child to issue an alert (the name and date of birth of the 
child  forms  the  basis  for  the  alert  and  sometimes  this  information  is  not  known  or  not 
confirmed). Therefore it is important to add at least a photograph of the child to the alert. Also 
fingerprints are very important and the most reliable identifiers as, contrary to name details, 
they cannot be modified. At the moment, fingerprints in SIS II can only be used to verify and 
confirm the identity of a person who has been identified upon an alphanumeric check (name 
and date of birth). Under the Commission's new Eurodac proposal, the fingerprints and facial 
images of children would be taken from 6 years onward - an age at which research has shown 
that  fingerprint  recognition  of  children  can  be  achieved  with  a  satisfactory  level  of 
accuracy.123  

The implementation of an Automated Fingerprint Identification System in SIS II is foreseen 
for 2017.  

The  SIRENE  manual  related  to  missing  children  has  been updated in  1  February 2015,  and 
now it In addition, the Commission adopted on 15 December 2015 a Recommendation124 for 
the  correct  application  of  SIS  with  a  specific  focus  on  unaccompanied  minors,  strongly 
recommending to Member States the creation of a missing person alert in SIS when the case 
involves minors.  

Based on the outcome of the Italian SIS SIRENE project "Vigila et protege" the Commission 
has  implemented  the  following  measures  to  ensure  a  better  use  of  SIS  II  for  protecting 
missing unaccompanied children: 

-  The  SIRENE  manual  related  to  missing  children  has  been  updated  in  February 
2015,  and  now  it  explicitly  recommends  to  the  Member  States  to  use  the  term 
"unaccompanied  minor"  when  the  missing  minor  is  unaccompanied125  in  order  to 
insure that all SIRENE Bureaus are aware that the alert concerns an unaccompanied 
minor (the term "unaccompanied minor" needs to be indicated in the form used for 
exchanging supplementary information).  
In  December  2015,  the  Commission  adopted  a  Recommendation  establishing  a 
catalogue of recommendations and best practices for the correct application of SIS 

- 

122 Source EU LISA. 
123 http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/european-agenda-migration/proposal-implementation-

package/docs/20160504/eurodac_proposal_en.pdf.  

124 Commission Recommendation of 16.12.2015 establishing a catalogue of recommendations and best practices 
for the correct application of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) and the exchange 
of supplementary information by the competent authorities of the Member States implementing and using SIS 
(C (2015)9169 final). 
125 OJ L44, 18.2.2015, p. 75. 

42 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
II  with  a  specific  focus  on  unaccompanied  children.126  Within  the  catalogue,  the 
creation of a missing person alert in SIS II is always strongly recommended when 
the case involves children, especially unaccompanied children.  

-  An  evaluation  of  SIS  is  underway  and  a  legislative  proposal  was  adopted  in 
December  2016.127  This  ongoing  review  envisages  the  clear  categorisation  of 
missing  persons.  This  will  not  only  help  gather  more  data  on  missing 
unaccompanied children but will also allow national law enforcement authorities to 
carry out more targeted investigations, as well as will aid in visibility of using this 
SIS for missing unaccompanied children.  

FRA is currently researching “Biometric data in large EU IT-systems in the areas of borders, 
visa  and  asylum  –  fundamental  rights  implications”.  The  ongoing  research  examines  both 
negative  as  well  as  positive  fundamental  rights  implications  of  the  use  of  biometric  data 
and/or  other  data  stored  in  Eurodac,  SIS  II  and  VIS.  The  final  reports  will  be  published  in 
2017.128 

The 2015 EMN Study documented Member States' responses to the phenomenon of missing 
migrant  children  and  provided  several  examples  of  good  practices,  such  as  the  smooth 
functioning  of  the  reception  system  for  unaccompanied  minors  in  the  Netherlands  via 
NIDOS129,  which  demonstrates  how  integrated  reception  and  guardianship  procedures  may 
help preventing that children go missing.  

The  measures  that  (Member)  States  have  put  in  place  to  prevent  disappearances  focus  on  a 
range  of  strategies  from  building  relationships  of  trust  with  the  unaccompanied  children, 
through close monitoring to involving multiple stakeholders who may come into contact with 
the children.  

Some  Member  States  (Belgium,  Finland,  France)  reported  that  they  focus  on  developing 
relationships  with  unaccompanied  children  staying  in  state  residences  by  the  adoption  of  a 
safe environment in order to build trust with the adults as well as peer support. 

Member States 

Belgium 

Promising practices reported 
The  reception  centre  Minor-Ndako  in  Belgium  accommodates 
extremely  vulnerable  children  (children  less  than  12  years  old, 
victims of trafficking) who have a high risk of absconding. It is 
a  protected  but  not  closed  reception  centre  and  as  such  it  has 
established a good balance between securing its premises on the 
one  hand  and  ensuring  unaccompanied  children'  right  to 
freedom on the other hand. 

The  reception  centre  is  organised  into  small  living  units 

126 Commission Recommendation of 16.12.2015 establishing a catalogue of recommendations and best practices 
for the correct application of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) and the exchange 
of supplementary information by the competent authorities of the Member States implementing and using SIS 
(C (2015)9169 final). 

127 http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-4402_en.htm. 
128 http://fra.europa.eu/en/project/2014/biometric-data-large-eu-it-systems-areas-borders-visa-and-asylum-

fundamental-rights. 

129 Nidos is an NGO, financed by the Dutch Ministry of Justice, with an independent board, which is responsible 
for all unaccompanied minors in the country. 

43 

 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
  
                                                            
(maximum of 10 unaccompanied children in one group) and has 
specially  trained  staff  in:  estimating  the  risk  of  absconding 
(based  on  a  checklist  developed  with  the  police  and  Child 
Focus);  standard  reception  procedure  aiming 
to  prevent 
disappearances  (picture  taken  and  identification  list);  first 
encounter/conversation with the child. At the beginning of each 
shift,  one  educator/assistant 
the 
minor/situation.  In  addition,  all  staff  at  the  centre,  including 
kitchen  and  cleaning  staff,  are  encouraged  to  get  to  know  the 
children and interact with them. The centre also tries to prevent 
children  from  absconding  in  the  first  24h,  by  washing  their 
longest  washing  and  drying 
clothes  and  choosing 
programme to buy time.  

is  assigned 

to  monitor 

the 

The  centre  provides  unaccompanied  children  with  a  cell 
phone/SIM  card  and  money  to  buy  phone  credit;  it  also 
encourages  them  to  open  an  e-mail  account  –  all  means  by 
which  they  can  be  contacted  or  get  in  touch  with  the  centre  if 
they go missing. In 2013, one minor went missing from Minor-
Ndako  and  in  2014  no  cases  of  disappearances  of  children 
occurred. 

The  2015  EMN  Study  showed  that  several  Member  States  set  up  systems  to  register  and 
monitor  unaccompanied  children.  Belgium,  Croatia,  Ireland,  Malta,  the  Netherlands,  the 
Slovak  Republic  and  Spain  each  take  fingerprints  and/or  photographs  of  unaccompanied 
children  at  first  contact  with  border  guards/police  to  serve  as  an  aid  for  tracing  of 
disappearances.  (In  Belgium  they  only  do  this  for  children  aged  above  12  years,  in  the 
Netherlands  for  children  below  the  age  of  12  too,  in  the  Slovak  Republic  fingerprints  are 
taken for those aged above 10 years and in Ireland only when it is in the child’s best interests). 
In  some  Member  States,  such  as  Finland  and  the  Netherlands,  unaccompanied  children 
suspected to be (potential) victims of trafficking are placed in protected reception (see Box 10 
in  Section  4  of  the  2015  EMN  Study),  whereas  intensive  supervision  takes  place  over 
unaccompanied children residing at the open/ campus location. In Portugal, they are required 
to ask permission to leave an open centre and are usually accompanied by an assistant. 

IV.2  Relocation 

Following the publication of the European Agenda on Migration in May 2015, in September 
2015, the Council adopted decisions to relocate 160,000 people from Greece, Italy and other 
Member  States  directly  affected  by  the  refugee  crisis  within  two  years.130  Under  the 
Decisions,  Member  States  must  give  priority  is  to  the  relocation  of  vulnerable  persons, 
including unaccompanied children, provided that a previous assessment of the best interest of 
the child has been made.131 The Commission has been constantly encouraging Member States 
to pledge relocation places accordingly.  

130 http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/jha/2015/09/22/. 
131 In order to support the national authorities to operationalise the relocation scheme, EASO has developed The 
Practical  Guidance  Tool  on  Best  Interests  Assessment  for  the  Purpose  of  Relocation.  This  particular  tool 
focuses solely on establishing whether it is in the best interests of the child to be relocated to another Member 

44 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Commission  personnel,  including  staff  tasked  to  follow  vulnerabilities  and  children  is 
deployed in Italy and Greece to assist Member States  in the implementation  of  the  hotspot 
approach.  Those  countries  receive  the  support  of  EASO,  Frontex  and  Europol  to  swiftly 
identify, register, fingerprint and provide information to incoming migrants. According to the 
current Eurodac legislation, children under the age of 14 cannot be fingerprinted and in case 
of  doubts  regarding  the  age,  a  migrant  should  be  considered  as  a  child.  In  any  case,  a 
photograph is taken to complete identification.  

In  hotspot  locations  and  disembarkation  areas,  authorities  are  supported  by  International 
Organisations  and  NGOs  in  the  individuation  of  vulnerabilities,  for  referral  to  competent 
national  authorities,  and  in  the  provision  of  information  on  EU  and  national  law  on 
immigration  and  asylum.  Hotspot  Standard  Operating  Procedures  (SOPs)  defining  hotspot 
process and the role of each actor involved were published in Italy in 2016, including specific 
provisions on vulnerable persons and unaccompanied children. In Greece, the SOPs are being 
drafted  and  will  adopted  in  the  near  future.  The  Commission  continues  supporting  national 
authorities  in  ensuring  that  dedicated  assistance  for  children  is  present.  Regular  discussions 
take place on how to respond to present and possible further needs. After disembarkation, first 
assistance,  first  identification  and  provision  of  information,  children  and  other  vulnerable 
persons  are  referred  to  competent  national  authorities  for  activation  of  dedicated  protection 
procedures (e.g. appointment of a guardian, transfer to dedicated reception facilities etc.).  

The Commission is also working with national authorities to facilitate the implementation of 
Council Decisions  1523/2015 and 1601/2015 for eligible unaccompanied children.132 EASO 
has  also  been  supporting  the  national  authorities  to  operationalise  the  Relocation  scheme. 
EASO has recently developed a Practical Guidance Tool on Best Interests Assessment for the 
Purpose of Relocation (BIA). This particular BIA tool focuses solely on establishing whether 
it is in the best interests of the child to be relocated to another Member State in the framework 
of the relocation procedure. It is made available to the front line Member States for relocation. 

The BIA tool is divided into two sections: the first section provides an overview of the best 
interests  principle  with  the  relevant  preconditions  and  safeguards,  and  the  second  section 
presents a comprehensive checklist designed to ensure that all key steps are completed by the 
responsible authorities, and appropriately considered when assessing the child’s inclusion in 
the relocation process. 

The  Commission's  regular  Reports  on  Relocation  and  Resettlement  as  well  as  the  meetings 
organised with Member States under the Relocation and Resettlement Forum and the Liaison 
Officers Meeting in Greece and in Italy have been used for disseminating this message, and in 
order to encourage further efforts, including by addressing procedural bottlenecks. 

IV.3 Safeguards for unaccompanied children in judicial proceedings  

State in the framework of the relocation procedure. It is made available to the front line Member States for 
relocation.  The  tool's  first  section  provides  an  overview  of  the  best  interest  principle  with  the  relevant 
preconditions and safeguards, and the second section presents a comprehensive checklist designed to ensure 
that all key steps are completed by the responsible authorities, and appropriately considered when assessing 
the child’s inclusion in the relocation process. 

132 See 

the  Commission's  10th  Report  on  Relocation  and  Resettlement,  https://ec.europa.eu/home-

affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/what-we-do/policies/european-agenda-
migration/20170302_tenth_report_on_relocation_and_resettlement_en.pdf.  

45 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                                                                                                                                                          
An  appropriate  legal  framework  to  deal  with  the  issues  concerning  guardianship  and  legal 
representation  of  unaccompanied  children  is  provided  by  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No 
2201/2003  of  27  November  2003,  concerning  jurisdiction  and  the  recognition  and 
enforcement  of  judgments  in  matrimonial  matters  and  the  matters  of  parental  responsibility  
and by the 1996 Hague Convention on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition, enforcement 
and  cooperation  in  respect  of  parental  responsibility  and  measures  for  the  protection  of 
children, to which all Member States are Parties.133 

When unaccompanied children are present in a foreign state, it will in most cases be necessary 
to appoint a guardian for them and take other protective measures as required.  

As  for  refugee  children  and  children  internationally  displaced  because  of  disturbances 
occurring  in  their  country  of  origin,  both  the  Regulation  (Art.  13)  and  the  1996  Hague 
Convention (Art. 6) which is also part of the EU  acquis,134 give jurisdiction to the Member 
State  in  which  the  child  is  present.  The  conditions  for,  and  content  of,  the  measures  to  be 
taken, e.g. the appointment of a guardian, depends on national law. Moreover, the Regulation 
and  the  Convention  also  provide  a  procedure  for  the  cross-border  placement  of  a  child  in  a 
foster  family  or  an  institution  in  another  Member  State  or  Contracting  State  of  the  1996 
Hague Convention, and for obtaining a social report. Central Authorities under the Regulation 
and  the  Convention  have  been  established  to  cooperate  across  borders  on  child  protection 
matters.  

Several  soft  law  measures  (exchange  of  good  practices,  better  cross-border  cooperation 
between  authorities,  awareness-raising)  have  also  contributed  in  this  period  to  improve 
cooperation between administrative (child protection) authorities in the different Contracting 
States and to facilitate the implementation of the Regulation and the 1996 Convention, such as 
the following: 

 The Commission's Practice Guide on the Regulation;135 
 The Practical Handbook developed by the Hague Conference on Private International 
Law, of which the European Union is a full Member since 2007;136 
 Training  on  Brussels  II  Regulation/1996  Hague  Convention  for  Judges,  Central 
Authorities  appointed  under  the  Regulation  and  the  Convention  and  child  welfare 
authorities;  
 Annual meetings of the Central Authorities under the Brussels IIa Regulation.  

Furthermore,  the  Commission  has  developed  several  projects  regarding  these  judicial 
guarantees for children. 

133  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  2201/2003  of  27  November  2003  concerning  jurisdiction  and  the  recognition 
and  enforcement  of  judgments  in  matrimonial  matters  and  the  matters  of  parental  responsibility,  repealing 
Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000 (OJ 2003 L 338, p. 1). 

134 Council Decision of 5 June 2008 authorising certain Member States to ratify, or accede to, in the interest of 
the  European  Community,  the  1996  Hague  Convention  on  Jurisdiction,  Applicable  Law,  Recognition, 
Enforcement  and  Cooperation  in  respect  of  Parental  Responsibility  and  Measures  for  the  Protection  of 
Children  and  authorising  certain  Member  States  to  make  a  declaration  on  the  application  of  the  relevant 
internal rules of Community law, (2008/431/EC), OJ L 151/36, 11.6.2008. 

135 Practice Guide for the application of the Brussels IIa Regulation, 2014. 
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/civil/files/brussels_ii_practice_guide_en.pdf.  

136 Practical Handbook on the operation of the Hague Convention of 19 October 1996 on Jurisdiction, Applicable 
Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Co-operation in Respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the 
Protection of Children, http://www.hcch.net/upload/handbook34en.pdf.   

46 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
The  first  one  is  "Children’s  involvement  in  criminal,  civil  and  administrative  judicial 
proceedings  in  the  28  Member  States  of  the  EU"  (June  2015).  Using  the  international  and 
European children’s rights standards as a framework, this policy brief presents the findings of 
the study in an accessible manner and examines the extent to which children are guaranteed 
effective  access  to,  and  adequate  treatment  in,  criminal,  civil  and  administrative  judicial 
proceedings across Europe.  

The second is "Children's involvement in administrative judicial proceedings" (June 2015)  – 
providing  an  EU  Summary  and  29  country  reports.  The  promotion  of  the  protection  of  the 
rights of the child is one of the objectives of the EU on which the Treaty of Lisbon has put 
further  emphasis.  This  report  is  part  of  a  study  to  collect  data  on  children’s  involvement  in 
criminal,  civil  and  administrative  judicial  proceedings  in  the  EU.  It  supports  the 
implementation of the 2011 EU Agenda for the rights of the child, which identified the lack of 
reliable, comparable and official data on the situation of children in the Member States. The 
main  aim  was  to  gather  and  publish  all  available  international  and  national  data  available, 
which is published on dedicated website137. The study also gathered information on legislation 
and policy to support interpretation of the data.  

The  EU  Summary  complements  the  results  already  published  in  June  2014  on  children's 
involvement in criminal justice proceedings. It was drawn up on the basis of the information 
provided  in  individual  Member  State  reports.  It  provides  an  overview  of  the  number  of 
children  affected,  describes  general  elements  of  child-friendly  justice,  procedural  rules 
affecting children's access to justice, and describes legislations and policies in place to protect 
the rights of the child. It includes examples of good practice and summarises information on 
common  and  uncommon  safeguards  in  the  EU  Member  States,  and  provides  useful 
comparative tables. As the study also covered migration and asylum law, the findings should 
be noted in the context of unaccompanied children. 

A  two-year  project  supported  and  co-funded  by  the  Commission  (Rights,  Equality  and 
Citizenship  Programme,  2014  call  on  rights  of  the  child)  has  also  been  developed  by  the 
AIRE  Centre  (Advice  on  Individual  rights  in  Europe)  It  is  called  "Separated  children  in 
judicial  proceedings-  promoting  a  joined  up  child-centred  approach  by  judicial  and  legal 
professionals to separated children".  The project partners are Belgium (Child Circle), Ireland 
(University College Cork) and Croatia (Centar za zene zrtve rata ROSA). 

The objective of the project is to build the capacity for legal professionals (including judges) 
to  become  more  aware  of  the  need  for  child  centred  justice  in  all  judicial  proceedings 
involving separated children. Moreover, to benefit from the knowledge and tools provided, so 
as to ensure that the conduct and outcomes  of such proceedings always take full account of 
the best interests of the child as a primary consideration. The expected results are: an increase 
in  the  incidence  of  child  centred  justice  for  separated  children,  as  a  consequence  of  the 
heightened  awareness  of  its  importance,  and  a  familiarity  with  the  relevant  tools  brought 
about by the project activities.138  

IV.4 EU Financial support provided  

Actions related to unaccompanied children co-financed by various European Funds  

137 www.childreninjudicialproceedings.eu. 
138 See more at http://www.airecentre.org/pages/separated-children-in-judicial-proceedings.html.  

47 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Project title/ 
Promoter 
Partners 

and 

Separated 
in  Europe 

The 
Children 
Programme (SCEP)  
Promoter: 

  Defence  for  Children 

(the Netherlands) 

Fund/Instrument 
Amount 
Implementation 
period 
EU  Project  funded 
by 
the  DAPHNE 
Programme 
2 
projects 
2014139 

consecutive 
ended 

The Commission  
1 October 2013 – 1  
 October 2014 

in, 

"CONNECT" 

The 
project140  
"Identifying 
practices 
improving, 
connections 
actors 
reception, 
and 
unaccompanied 
children in Europe” 

good 
and 
the 
between 
in 
protection 
of 

integration 

involved 

HOME/2012/PPUAM/
4097 
Promoter: 

  Save 

the  Children 

(Sweden) 
Partners:  

  UNHCR’s  Bureau  for 

Europe 
  NIDOS 

Netherlands) 

(the 

  Coram 

Children’s 
(the 

Legal  Centre 
United Kingdom) 

  Save 

the  Children 

(Italy) 

  Don Calabria (Italy) 
  The  Italian  Ministry  of 

Objectives 

Expected  results  and 
deliverables 

improve 

the 
To 
and 
situation 
of 
recognition 
separated children 
through  research, 
shared 
policies 
and  advocacy  at 
national 
and 
regional levels.  

This  project  aim 
to  identify  good 
practices  in,  and 
improve, 
the 
connections 
among 
involved 
reception, 
protection 
integration 
unaccompanied 
children 
Europe.  

actors 
in 

and 
of 

in 

other 

The SCEP Statement of 
Good Practice provides 
12 guiding principles to 
separated 
protect 
children 
from 
discrimination, 
and 
violence 
abuses of their rights.  
-  The  aim  was 
to 
provide  this  Statement 
in  20  languages  and  to 
support 
national 
activities.  
The  project  delivered 
the  following  practical 
outputs: 
-  It  developed  an  EU 
Reference  Tool  which 
sets out the body of EU 
law  and  policy  which 
to 
relates 
unaccompanied 
children, 
an 
as 
important  support  for 
and 
policy  makers 
practitioners.  
-  The  project  mapped 
actors  work, 
how 
in 
and 
individually 
cooperation  with  each 
other,  in  four  Member 
States (the Netherlands, 
Italy,  Sweden  and  the 
United 
Kingdom). 
National reports set out 
in  each 
the  findings 
country. 
-  A  comparative  report 
common 
identifies 
the 
challenges  across 
four 
and 
countries 
national good practices.  

139 http://www.scepnetwork.org/.  
140 www.connectproject.eu - Reference Document providing a compilation of relevant EU laws and policies on 

UAMs: http://www.connectproject.eu/PDF/CONNECT-EU_Reference.pdf.   

48 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
and 

Social 

Labour 
Policies  

  The 

Country 
in 
Götaland 

Administration 
Västra 
(Sweden) 

The Commission 
16 September 2013 -
16 September 2014 

Pilot 

The 
Project 
“Analysis  of  reception, 
and 
protection 
integration  policies  for 
unaccompanied 
children in the EU”141 

HOME/2012/PPUAM/
4113 

Best 
Exploring 

“In  Whose 
Interest? 
Unaccompanied 
Minors’ 
Rights 
Through  the  Lens  of 
Migration  and  Asylum 
Procedures.”142 

the 
Project 

Co-funded  by 
Pilot 
Unaccompanied 
Minors 
2013 of the EU143  
EUR 261,948.30  
15  June  2014  –  15 

(PPUAM) 

and 

The  main 
to 
is 
good 
on 

To  contribute  to 
the 
implementation of 
the 
2010 
Commission 
Action  Plan  on 
Unaccompanied 
(2010-
children 
2014) 
the 
actions  specified 
thereof.  
- 
objective 
identify 
practices 
prevention, 
reception, 
protection 
integration 
policies 
unaccompanied 
children.  
The 
research 
project  is  carried 
four 
in 
out 
Member 
States 
(Slovenia, 
Austria, 
and 

France 
the  United 

and 

for 

to 

actors’ 

- The project developed 
five 
tools 
practical 
addressing  key  aspects 
of 
work 
to  be  used 
together, 
across  a  number  of 
issues,  including:  first 
reception, 
encounter, 
guidance 
actors 
working  with  children, 
child 
promoting 
and 
participation, 
decision-
ensuring 
making 
procedures 
better  fulfil  the  rights 
of the child to be heard. 
The  Pilot  Project 
is 
entirely  managed  by 
Commission 
the 
(central  management) 
the  basis  of  an 
on 
annual 
work 
programme  and  calls 
for proposals.  

In order to contribute to 
fulfilling  the  national 
obligations  as  set  out 
law, 
by 
international 
to 
the  main  aim 
and 
identify 
better 
recommend 

is 

141 http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/financing/fundings/migration-asylum-borders/other-programmes/pilot-

project-unaccompanied-minors/index_en.htm.  

142 http://www.minasproject.eu/.  
143 http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/financing/fundings/migration-asylum-borders/other-programmes/pilot-

project-unaccompanied-minors/calls/call-2013/docs/ppuam_2013_list_of_awarded_projects_en.pdf.  

49 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
project 

Kingdom.  
The 
examines 
unaccompanied 
children 
reception, 
protection, 
asylum and return 
procedures, with a 
focus on: 
- The best interest 
of the child (BIC) 
-  The 
formal 
processes  of  best 
interests 
determination 
(BID) 

main 
The 
a 
is 
objective 
focused 
research 
on 
the 
methodology  that 
explore 
will 
durable 
solution 
in  the  context  of 
separated 
children,  in  terms 
of 
and 
return 
reintegration  

HOME/2013/PPUAM/
AG/5320 
Coordinator:  

  Up, 

Science 

and 

Research Centre (SI) 
Partners:  

  University  of  Brighton 
(the United Kingdom) 
  University  of  Vienna 

(Austria) 

–  National 
for  Scientific 

  CNRS 
Center 
Research (France) 
  Slovene  Philanthropy 

 

(Slovenia)  
IRSSV 
Social 
Protection  Institute  of 
of 
Republic 
the 
Slovenia (Slovenia) 
in 
"Best 
Determining 
and 
implementing  Durable 
Solutions for Separated 
Children in Europe" 

practice 

December 2015 

by 

Co-financed 
PPUAM 2013  
EUR 237.375,00 
15  May  2014  –  14 
November 2015 

for 

HOME/2013/PPUAM/
AG/5323 
Coordinator:  
Irish  Refugee  Council 
Limited (IRC)(Ireland) 
Partners: 
Greek  Council 
Refugees (Greece)  
Church  of  England 
Children's  Society  (the 
United Kingdom) 
For 
HFC 
Children" 
UNCRC 
Policy Center (Cyprus) 
Stichting  Defence  for 
International 
Children 
ECPAT 
Nederland 
(DCI-
Nederland 
ECPAT 
(the 
Netherlands)  
The  Human  Rights 
League (Slovakia) 
The  People  for  Change 
Foundation (Malta) 

"Hope 

50 

protection measures for 
unaccompanied 
children.  
-  4  country  reports  and 
a  comparative  state  of 
the  art  report  sought  to 
contribute  to  a  more 
solid  basis  for  proper 
implementation  of  BIC 
and BID in practice.  

and 
identified 

-  Desk  research  and 
focus 
groups  with 
stakeholders  (including 
children 
young 
and 
people)  
- National Reports from 
10 countries. 
-  Tool 
service 
for 
providers  working  with 
separated children to be 
developed  based  on 
best 
findings 
practice 
in 
the  International  report 
-  Best  Practice  Guide 
identification, 
for 
the 
and 
implementation 
review  of  the  durable 
solution  for  separated 
children. 
to 
-  Lead  partners 
discuss  best  practice 
checklist 
guide 
European 
with 
Parliamentarians 
in 
Brussels.  Lead partners 
to  present  findings  to 
EASO.    All  partners  to 
present  findings  at  the 
and 
national 

level 

and 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Bureau  d'Accueil  et  de 
Defense  des 
Jeunes 
(B.A.D.J), 
Service 
Droit de Jeunes (S.D.J) 
(Belgium) 
College 
University 
Dublin, 
National 
University  of  Ireland  – 
(Ireland) 
Bundesverband 
Unbegleitete 
Minderjährige 
Flüchtlinge (Germany) 
Child 
Family 
and 
(TUSLA) 
Agency 
(Ireland) 

- 

HOME/2013/PPUAM/
AG/6441 
"SUMMIT 
Safeguarding 
Unaccompanied 
Migrant  Minors  from 
going 
Missing  by  Identifying 
and 
Best  Practices 
Training  Actors  on 
Interagency 
Cooperation" 

Coordinator: 
European 
for  Missing 
Sexually 
Children (Belgium) 

Federation 
and 
Exploited 

Partners: 
University 
of 
Portsmouth  (the  United 
Kingdom) 
Kentro 
Oikogeneias 
Paidiou 
(Greece)  

Merimnas 
kai 
(KMOP) 

Stichting  Nidos    (the 
Netherlands) 
and 
Child 
Agency (Ireland) 
Child Circle (Belgium) 

Family 

by 

Co-financed 
PPUAM 2013  
EUR 215,177.08 
24  October  2014  – 
23 April 2016 

51 

general 
the 
to 
the 
of 

The 
objective  of 
project 
is 
reduce 
numbers 
unaccompanied 
migrant  children 
go 
who  will 
to 
missing  and 
protect  the  rights 
are 
that 
they 
to.  The 
entitled 
actions 
concrete 
aimed at:  
-  Identifying  risk 
factors  to  prevent 
the  disappearance 
of unaccompanied 
minors 
from 
reception centres.  
-  Developing  a 
guidance  on  best 
practices 
for 
interagency 
cooperation in the 
event 
a 
disappearance. 

of 

to 

Producing 

encourage  stakeholders 
to  adopt  the  checklist 
and best practice guide 
- 
International 
Conference  to  present 
The 
findings. 
conference  will 
be 
to  be  cost 
designed 
to  not  only 
negative 
present 
to 
findings 
stakeholders, but also to 
the 
disseminate 
information 
to  other 
influential  stakeholders, 
such  as  academics  and 
those  working 
for 
advocacy groups.   
Establish  best  practices 
in  the  prevention  of  & 
the 
response 
disappearance 
of 
unaccompanied  minors 
by: 
well 
- 
results 
researched 
and 
identifying 
categorising risk factors 
and 
a 
framework for action in 
to  missing 
response 
unaccompanied minors.  
- 
a 
Developing 
guidance 
dictating 
effective  procedures  in 
terms  of 
interagency 
cooperation in the event 
of  the  disappearance  of 
an 
unaccompanied 
minor.  
- 
Contribute 
to 
substantially 
reducing  the  number  of 
children 
disappearing 
from  reception  centres 
better 
by 
between 
cooperation 
tailored 
actors 
to  specific 
responses 
risks.  
-  Improve  the  abilities 

developing 

ensuring 

and 

 
 
 
 
 
Stichting  Defence  for 
International 
Children 
-  ECPAT 
Nederland 
Nederland 
(the 
Netherlands) 

of  guardians,  reception 
centre professionals and 
hotlines 
for  missing 
children in dealing with 
the issue. 

of 

- To raise awareness on 
this 
by 
issue 
conducting  an  in  depth 
reception 
study 
and 
models/practices 
key 
underlining 
and 
challenges 
for 
solutions 
improvement. 
-  A  compendium  of 
selected practices and a 
tool 
organising 
Meeting  Places  and 
youth  participation  in 
the reception process. 

on 

“No  Longer  Alone: 
Advancing  Reception 
Standards 
for 
Unaccompanied 
Children”144  

by 

Co-funded 
PPUAM 2013145  
EUR 240,152.95  
3  November  2014  – 
3 May 2016 

HOME/2013/PPUM/A
G/6445 
Coordinator:  

  European  Council  on 
Refugees and Exiles  
Partners:  

  Magyar 

Helsinki 

Bizottsag (Hungary) 

  Hungarian 
Committee 

  Scottish 
Council 

Helsinki 

Refugee 

  Terre d’asile (France) 
  Stichting  Nidos 
Netherlands) 

(the 

  Rädda 

Barnens 

riksförbund (Sweden) 

  Groupement 
public 
Coopération 
International (France) 

d'intérêt 
'Justice 

An in-depth study 
carried  out  in  5 
Member 
States 
(France,  Sweden, 
the  Netherlands, 
Hungary  and  the 
United Kingdom), 
with the main aim 
to: 
- Contribute to the 
improvement  of 
reception 
standards 
unaccompanied 
children  and 
ensure 
accommodation 
and  reception  are 
the 
adequate 
needs 
the 
children.  

to 
that 

for 

of 

to 

  The 

Scottish 
(the 

territory 

Government 
United Kingdom)" 
"Improved  capacity  of 
Italian 
to 
accept  unaccompanied 
foreign  minors,  with 
particular  reference  to 
areas  most  affected  by 
exceptional  migratory 
flows" 

AMIF 
EUR 11,949,660.00 
20  March  2015  –  22 
February 2016 

691  places  have  been 
made 
for 
available 
unaccompanied 
children.  

144 http://www.ecre.org/component/content/article/63-projects/1005-no-longer-alone.html.  
145 http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/financing/fundings/migration-asylum-borders/other-programmes/pilot-

project-unaccompanied-minors/calls/call- 
2013/ppuam2/docs/list_of_awarded_projects_under_home2013cfpppuam2_en.pdf . 

52 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
HOME/2014/AMIF/A
G/EMAS/02/IT146 
Coordinator:  
  Ministry  of 

Interior 

(Italy)  
Partners:  
Italian Red Cross 

 
  UNHCR 
 
IOM 
  Save the Children Italia 

Onlus 

  ANCI (Italy)  

"Closing  a  protection 
gap 2.0" 
Coordinator:  

EU  Project  funded 
the  DAPHNE 
by 
Programme  

  Defence  for  Children 

(the Netherlands) 
Partners:  

  Asylkoordination 

Osterreich (Austria) 
  Bundesfachverband 

UMF 
(Germany) 

e.V. 

Berlin 

  Defence  for  Children 

(Italy) 
  Hope 

for  Children 
UNHCR  Policy  Centre 
(Cyprus) 
 
Irish Refugee Council 
  Plate-forme Mineurs en 

exil (Belgium) 

  Portuguese 
Council 

Refugee 

  Slovene Philanthrophy  

The  project  aims 
to  harmonise  the 
protection 
separated children 
receive  from  their 
by 
guardian 
focusing  on 
the 
qualifications  of 
the guardian. 

Justice: 
Legal 
for 

to 

“Rights 
Quality 
Assistance 
Unaccompanied 
Children” 
Promoter: 

Fundamental 
The 
Rights 
and 
Citizenship  Funding 
Programme (FRC) 
1  December  2012  – 
1 July 2014 

The 
of 
free 
assistance 
children 
migration 
asylum 

availability 
legal 
for 
all 
and 
related 

in 

The  Core  Standards 
indicators 
and 
the 
from 
developed 
perspective 
127 
of 
separated  children  and 
68 guardians147.  
Migration 
-The 
Committee 
the 
of 
Council  of  Europe  will 
appoint  a  rapporteur  as 
a  response  to  a  motion 
the 
to 
 support 
and 
elaboration 
the 
development  of 
‘Core  Standards 
for 
guardians  of  separated 
children in Europe” and 
urge  the  Committee  of 
Ministers  to  adopt  a 
recommendation on the 
standards.  
-  The  Core  Standards 
are 
by 
endorsed 
Separated  Children  in 
Europe Programme and 
referred  to  in  the  FRA 
Handbook 
on 
guardianship. 
The results aimed to:  
-  Contribute 
common 
guaranteeing 
unaccompanied  minor's 
right to justice. 

to 
a 
approach 

146 http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/financing/fundings/migration-asylum-borders/asylum-migration-

integration-fund/union-actions/docs/amif_emas_list_of_awarded_projects_en.pdf.  

147 www.corestandardsforguardians.com.  

53 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
  The  European  Council 
on Refugees and Exiles 
(ECRE) 
Partners: 

  Asylkoordination 

Austria 

  The  British  Refugee 

Council 

  The  Danish  Refugee 

Council 

  The  Legal  clinic  for 
and 
Refugees 
Immigrants in Bulgaria 
  The  Italian  Council  for 

Refugees 

  The  Immigration  Law 

Practitioners 
Association 
Associate partner: 

  UNHCR 

support 

"Dublin 
guardians"  
Promoter: 

for 

Co-financed  by  the 
Commission 
2013-2014 

  The  European  Network 
Guardianship 

of 
Institutions (ENGI)149 
Partners: 
  NIDOS 

(the 

Netherlands) 

  Caritas International 
  France  Terre  d’Asile 

(France)  

"Reception  and  living 
in families"150  

  The  European  Network 
Guardianship 

of 
Institutions (ENGI)151 
Led by: 
  NIDOS 

(the 

Netherlands) 
Partners: 
  Counter 

Trafficking 

Human 
Bureau 

Co-financed  by  the 
Commission 
1  September  2013  – 
1 March 2015 

The 

is 
procedure 
crucial 
to 
guaranteeing  their 
justice 
to 
right 
to 
access 
and 
effective 
remedies. 
research, 
the 
examined 
and 
legislation 
practice 
in 
Austria,  Belgium, 
Bulgaria, 
Italy, 
Denmark, 
the 
Spain 
United  Kingdom 
and 
included 
interviews  with 
unaccompanied 
children148.    

and 

To 
formulate 
each 
for 
steps 
Member  State  for 
reuniting 
an 
unaccompanied 
minor  with  his 
to 
family 
and 
to 
offer  support 
and 
guardians 
other 
representatives  in 
Dublin  cases  of 
unaccompanied 
children. 
the 
To  map 
practice 
current 
and  promote  the 
reception 
of 
unaccompanied 
children 
families. 

in 

-  Raise  awareness  and 
promote good practices 
and  guidance  on  legal 
assistance 
to 
unaccompanied 
legal 
children  among 
advisors 
and 
professionals  working 
with children 
-  A  comparative  report 
based  on  the  research 
and  guiding  principles 
legal 
on 
quality 
assistance 
for 
unaccompanied 
children 
and 
measuring indicators  

their 

An improvement of the 
service  of  guardians  in 
Dublin  procedures 
in 
the  EU  and  insights  in 
transposition  of 
the 
Dublin 
the 
in 
national contexts.  

III 

families 

The  project  promoted 
of 
reception 
the 
unaccompanied  minors 
within 
by 
increasing  knowledge 
throughout 
available 
the 
offering 
EU, 
country-by-country 
strategies  on increasing 
family reception of and 
good 
promoting 

148 http://ecre.org/component/content/article/63-projects/325-right-to-justice.html.  
149 http://engi.eu/projects/dublin-support-for-guardians/.  
150 http://engi.eu/wp-content/plugins/download-attachments/includes/download.php?id=595.  
151 http://engi.eu/projects/reception-and-living-in-families/.  

54 

 
 
 
 
                                                            
(CHTB, 
Kingdom) 

the  United 

  SALAR (Sweden) 

practices. 
Delivered results: 
A 
report 
research 
which analyses how the 
reception 
family 
system works in all the 
EU  Member  States  as 
well  as  in  Norway  and 
Switzerland.  It  i)  maps 
the current practices, ii) 
promotes  the  reception 
unaccompanied 
of 
children  in  families  in 
places where this is not 
a common practice and 
iii) further stimulate the 
development 
of 
knowledge 
in  places 
where  good  practices 
are  already  in  place  or 
are emerging.  

2 workshops held in the 
United  Kingdom  and 
raising 
Sweden 
for- 
with 
awareness 
stakeholders 
from 
several  countries  that 
have  experience  with 
families 
in 
reception 
(the  United  Kingdom, 
Sweden,  Switzerland, 
Italy, 
Austria, 
Germany,  France,  the 
Netherlands  as  well  as 
the Baltic Sea States). 

A final conference held 
in  Amsterdam 
in 
January 2015 presented 
the main findings of the 
project and its previous 
research work.  

The Mario Project 
“Protect  children  on 
the move”152 
Core partners: 

Co-financed  by  the 
EU  Daphne 
III 
Program and the Oak 
Foundation 

Improving 
the 
level of protection 
of  Central  and 
Eastern 
South 

The  project  seeks  – 
transnational 
through 
outreach 
research, 
advocacy, trainings and 

152 http://www.marioproject.org/ 

55 

 
 
 
 
  
  
                                                            
  Neglected  Children’s 
(ECPAT, 

Society 
Bulgaria) 
  Nobody’s 

Foundation 
Poland) 

Children 
(ECPAT, 

migrant  children 
are 
who 
vulnerable 
to 
abuse, 
exploitation 
and/or trafficking.  

  Save the Children  
  Terre des Hommes 
Associate partners: 

  ARSIS (Greece) 
  Associazione  21  Igulio 

(Italy) 

  Open  gate  –  La  Strada 

(MK) 

  Defence  for  Children 
International  (ECPAT, 
the Netherlands) 
Advocacy partners: 

  Save 

the  Children 

North West Balkans 
  Terre  des  Hommes 

International 
Federation  

  ECPAT International 
  The  organisation 

for 
Aid  to  Refugees  (the 
Czech Republic) 

  The  Children’s  Rights 

Centre  

  The  Center  for  Youth 

Integration ( 

  Human  Rights  League 

(Slovakia) 

PRUMA  –  “Promoting 
Family  Reunification 
and 
for 
Transfer 
Unaccompanied  Minor 
Asylum  Seekers,  under 
the Dublin Regulation” 

European  Refugee 
(Community 
Fund 
Actions  Call 
for 
proposals 2012)154 
EUR 380,739.20  

PRUMA aimed at 
facilitating  family 
reunification 
for 
migrant 
unaccompanied 
children  arriving 

to 

of 

support 

regional 

Services 

to 
direct 
professionals 
and 
empowerment  of  at-
risk migrant children  
–  to  find  multilateral 
solutions 
the 
problems  that  children 
face  prior,  during  or 
after migration and that 
require 
coordinated 
protection  
which 
- 
protect  at-risk  migrant 
from 
abuse, 
exploitation  or  other 
violations 
their 
rights  will  be  provided 
with  a  strong  emphasis 
child 
on 
put 
participation.  
-  Activities  at  national 
and 
levels, 
field  work 
coupling 
with  a  strong  research 
component  will  aim  at 
inter-
fostering 
institutional 
and 
transnational 
while 
collaboration 
evidence-
promoting 
based  and  European 
solutions.  
-  In  its  framework,  the 
Public 
European 
Conference  "Closing  a 
protection 
for 
European  children  on 
the 
was 
move" 
organised  on  5  March 
2015153. 
to 
The 
streamline and expedite 
the 
reunification 
process  envisaged  by 
EU 
for 
law 
unaccompanied 

goal 

gap 

is 

153 http://www.marioproject.org/news/european-conference-focused-on-invisible-and-unprotected-european-

children-on-the-move/7235.  

154 http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/financing/fundings/migration-asylum-borders/refugee-fund/transnational-

actions/docs/grants_awarded_2012_en.pdf.  

56 

 
 
 
                                                            
in  the  EU  to  seek 
international 
and 
protection 
who 
have 
relatives  living  in 
one  of 
the  EU 
Member States.  

Promoter: 

  Missione OIM (Italy) 

 

Partners: 
IOM 
(Germany, 
France,  Greece,  Malta, 
the  United  Kingdom, 
Norway) 

  Save 

the  Children 

(Italy) 

  Civico Zero (Italy) 
  British 
Council 

Refugee 

  Praksis (Greece) 
  Bund-UMF (Germany) 
  Ministry  of 
Interior 

(Italy) 

of 

in  order 

seeking 
children 
asylum, 
to 
protect  them  from  the 
risk 
becoming 
victims of trafficking or 
exploitation.  For 
this 
standard 
reason 
be 
procedures  will 
the 
developed  with 
of 
purpose 
strengthening 
the 
cooperation  among  the 
national  Dublin  Units 
and 
relevant 
authorities.  
standard 
- 
These 
be 
procedures  will 
elaborated 
a 
by 
committee  of  experts 
to 
and  proposed 
the 
competent 
authorities 
in  Italy,  Malta,  Greece, 
the  United 
France, 
Kingdom 
and 
Germany). 
-  The  procedures  will 
inter  alia  be  aimed  at 
speeding  up  the  steps 
of 
reunification 
process,  from  the  time 
the child is identified to 
the  transfer,  all  in  the 
best 
the 
interest  of 
child.  

the 

The  CONNECT  project  covered  areas  concerning  reception,  protection  and  integration 
policies  for  unaccompanied  children  of  third  country  origin,  focusing  on  how  actors  work 
both individually and together to adequately safeguard the rights of the child in line with the 
principles  as  afforded  under  the  Convention  on  the  Rights  of  the  Child  and  EU  law.  The 
analysis was carried out through country mappings and by developing tools to contribute to 
concrete and practical measures supporting the actors in addressing the needs and rights of the 
child.  

The  mapping  process  of  the  project  focused  mainly  on  the  actors  who  had  formal  roles 
towards  unaccompanied  children  and  several  key  features  causing  challenges  for  the 
organisation and fulfilment of responsibilities were identified. The project identified that gaps 
in responsibilities and service provisions exist due to the fragmentation of law into different 
legislative  instruments  for  different  groups  of  children.  It  proposed  that  a  more  integrated 
approach should be ensured.  

57 

 
 
 
 
 
 
The  CONNECT  project  delivered  a  range  of  recommendations  for  the  EU  and  Member 
States, taking a bottom-up approach to the implementation of EU obligations, drawing on the 
perspectives of the actors and based on a comparison of operational practice across countries. 
The analysis of the projects priority areas starkly illustrates the need for increased efforts to 
involve better equipped actors in the situation of unaccompanied children and the cooperation 
between  these  should  be  enhanced.  The  recommendations  therefore  in  particular  emphasise 
the need for specialised skills, practical tools and inter-agency cooperation. 

IV.5  Actions  in  the  EU  Member  States  for  ensuring  protection  of  unaccompanied 
children    

The  2015  EMN  Study  identified  a  number  of  gaps  and  challenges  that  still  need  to  be 
addressed  to  ensure  all  unaccompanied  children  benefit  from  the  same  level  of  protection. 
While  many  provisions  and  measures  are  available  for  asylum-seeking  unaccompanied 
children  and  those  granted  international  protection  (under  the  EU  acquis  and  international 
legislation),  this  is  not  always  the  case  for  non-asylum  seekers.  At  present,  these  do  not 
appear to benefit from the same level of protection either in law or in practice.  

The Study highlights a number of good practices which have been adopted by some Member 
States since 2009. For example, the Netherlands offers a particular good practice of the timely 
appointment and establishment of contact between the child and a guardian.155 To facilitate a 
guardian’s  prompt  appointment,  NIDOS  signed  a  memorandum  of  understanding  with  the 
migration services to ensure that it would be contacted immediately when the services identify 
an  unaccompanied  minor.  The  first  contact  between  NIDOS  and  the  unaccompanied  child 
must take place on the day of his or her arrival at the application centre. From that moment, 
NIDOS fulfils the role of a guardian and asks the court to appoint it to act as guardian until 
the court appoints a specific guardian for the child.  

Most  Member  States  also  provide  a  representative  to  non-asylum  seeking  unaccompanied 
children.  For  this,  some  Member  States  (Austria,  Belgium,  Bulgaria,  Cyprus,  Estonia, 
Germany,  Hungary,  Ireland,  Latvia,  Lithuania,  Luxembourg,  Poland,  the  Slovak  Republic, 
Spain,  Sweden)  apply 
to  non-asylum  seeking 
the  same  guardianship  system  also 
unaccompanied children, and thus have one guardianship system for all of them (whether they 
are asylum-seeking or non-asylum seeking).  

A number of Member States provided information on protection actions undertaken in 2015, 
as described below.  

In Austria, as of October 2015 about 4,400 unaccompanied children were supported and taken 
care  of  within  the  framework  of  the  basic  services  programme,  97%  of  them  in  organised 
accommodation and 3% in private homes. Only 4.3% of all unaccompanied minor refugees in 
care  are  female.  Unaccompanied  children  are  accommodated  separately  from  other  asylum 
seekers and special support is ensured. 

In Austria many accommodation facilities are provided by private companies. An example of 
this is ORS Service, a company responsible for taking care of unaccompanied minor refugees. 

ORS is responsible for providing different services:  

155 See page 20 et seq. of the 2015 EMN Report.  

58 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
 Support and safeguarding of the interests of unaccompanied child refugees. 
 Psychological  support,  conveying  social  competence,  conflict  prevention  and 
comprehensive  structuring  of  the  day  (German-language  and  integration  courses, 
education  programmes,  leisure  activities  and  preparation  for  an  independent  way  of 
living. 
 Continuous documentation of the support measures, e.g. in the case of psychological 
counselling  and  support,  medical  counselling  including  informative  talks  regarding 
access to reproductive medical and HIV/AIDS treatment, with reference to topics like, 
for  example,  genital  mutilation  and  contraception,  in  the  case  of  assistance  regarding 
reunification  of  families  and  tracing  of  family  members  or  in  planning  the  day’s 
structure and leisure activities, etc. 

Belgium reported an increase of the number of reception places for unaccompanied children 
in 2015.  

Since  23  July  2015,  a  new  reception  trajectory  for  unaccompanied  children  who  have  been 
granted  a  right  of  residence  has  been  effective.  Unaccompanied  children  residing  in  a 
collective receptions structure and who have received a right of residence for more than three 
months (including before 23 July 2015), are assigned to an individual reception structure (an 
NGO, or a local reception initiative) for six months (with the possibility of extension) where 
they  are  supported  in  their  search  for  an  accommodation,  with  their  transition  to  financial 
support and integration into society.  

Projects undertaken in 2015: 

 Implementation of a pilot project on a specific reception trajectory for unaccompanied 
children  reaching  majority  and  with  no  perspective  of  regular  stay  in  Belgium.  The 
trajectory focusses on empowering them for the future by providing specific education 
programs and information sessions on future possibilities.  
 Implementation  of  a  project  on  foster  families  for  unaccompanied  children.  At  this 
stage  of  the  project  terms  and  conditions  for  the  selection  of  families  and 
unaccompanied children have been agreed upon, a call for candidate families has been 
issued and candidate unaccompanied children have been screened. 

In  relation to guardianship,  the Belgian authorities reported that the provision  of a guardian 
also to  unaccompanied children of other  EU Member  States  was implemented in  December 
2014.   

Good practice: Belgian reception of unaccompanied children – Guardianship  

In  April  2015  the  Belgian  authorities  established  a  coaching  programme  for  guardians,  in 
collaboration  with  the  Red  Cross  and  Caritas  International.  This  program  consists  of  three 
parts: a) a helpdesk for guardians, available for practical and specific questions regarding their 
guardianship; b) individual support to the guardian, that he/she can request in order to assist 
specific  or  complex  guardianship  cases,  such  as  unaccompanied  children  who  are  at  the 
border  or  in  detention,  those  that  have  been  arrested  or  need  urgent  medical  assistance, 
victims  of  human  trafficking,  unaccompanied  children  with  serious  psychological  issues  or 
without  reception  place,  or  those  ones  for  whom  it  is  difficult  to  find  a  durable  solution  or 

59 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
who want to voluntarily return; c) internship of 8 hours and information sessions for new and 
inexperienced guardians.  

Finally,  since  June  2015,  access  to  the  database  of  the  Guardianship  Service  has  been 
provided  to  the  Belgian  Public  Prosecutor’s  Office,  the  Immigration  Department,  Asylum 
authority  and  Reception  Agency  in  order  to  ensure  that  they  all  receive  more  swift  and 
accurate information on the place of residence, the state of play regarding the age assessment 
of the child and the contact details of the guardian.  

The Czech Republic reported the adoption of laws to implement the provisions of the recast 
asylum procedure directive as well as recast reception condition directive including provisions 
concerning unaccompanied children. 

Italy reported changes in the national reception system for unaccompanied children in 2015. 
In the first level of reception, children are accommodated in reception centres where they are 
identified, subjected to medical examination and age assessment for no more than 60 days. In 
the  second  level  of  reception,  children  are  moved  to  the  reception  centres  of  the  SPRAR 
network (hosting structures managed by local authorities with the partnership of civil society, 
and  coordinated  by  the  Ministry  of  Interior)  where  they  are  offered  specific  programmes  to 
facilitate  their  integration  at  local  level.  There  is  no  distinction  between  asylum-seeking 
children and non-asylum seeking children. 

Malta  reported  about  the  implementation  in  2015  of  an  European  Refugee  Fund  funded 
project called "Information Sessions to residents of Open Centres" where all unaccompanied 
children  attended  six  information  sessions  on  the  following  topics:  education  and 
employment, health, housing, budgeting, hygiene and social skills.  

Good  practice  -  Dutch  reception  of  unaccompanied  children  –  prevention  of  children 
going missing – integrated reception and guardianship procedures 

As  reported  by  the  Dutch  authorities,  in  2014,  the  Netherlands'  reception  and  asylum 
procedures for unaccompanied children were amended. Now, on arrival in the open Reception 
Centre  in  Ter  Apel  (the  sole  reception  centre  in  the  Netherlands),  the  unaccompanied  child 
has an intake interview with Nidos, the police and the Immigration and Naturalisation Service 
to  apply  for  asylum.  This  means  that  applications  for  asylum  are  initiated  on  Day  1,  as 
opposed to after a couple of weeks. Unaccompanied children up to -15 years of age are hosted 
in foster families, under the auspices of Nidos. Unaccompanied children aged 15 and above 
are housed in small group homes, clustered in groups, hosting a maximum of 16-20 children, 
where 24-hour supervision is assured. Unaccompanied children of 17.5 years and above are 
housed  in  small  group  homes  so  that,  once  they  reach  adulthood,  if  they  are  eligible  for 
residency,  they  can  be  admitted  to  appropriate  housing.  According  to  this  new  model, 
unaccompanied children who have obtained a residence permit are transferred by Nidos from 
the  Dutch  Central  Agency  for  the  reception  of  asylum  seekers  (COA)  facility  to  a  family 
setting or to small-scale care facilities to enable integration. 

In  the  case  of  a  third-country  national  minor  under  14  years  of  age,  his  interests  will  be 
protected  by  a  legal  representative,  and  in  the  absence  of  such,  one  will  be  appointed 
according to Romanian law. 

60 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In  2015  a  new  initiative  regarding  supported  housing  for  persons  between  16-20  years  was 
introduced  in  Sweden.  Unaccompanied  children  can  be  a  targeted  by  the  social  services  for 
placement  in  such  supported  accommodation.  Within  the  Swedish  Migration  Authority 
quality  follow-ups  and  trainings  in  all  asylum  functions  involved  with  asylum  applications 
from children were continued.  

V.  FINDING DURABLE SOLUTIONS  

Identifying the most appropriate durable solution for an unaccompanied or separated child156 
has a fundamental and long-term impact on the child's future. It therefore requires a careful 
balancing  of  many  factors,  may  involve  different  agencies  and  authorities,  and  should  take 
account of the child’s views, with due weight accorded to his or her age and maturity. Thus, 
before taking any such decisions, a best interests determination should be carried out based on 
an individual assessment of the circumstances of each child. Work has been carried out in the 
Member States and at EU level on all strands identified in the Action Plan as possible durable 
solutions:  return  and  reintegration  of  the  unaccompanied  minor  in  the  country  of  origin; 
solutions for facilitating integration in the Member State of residence; and resettlement. 

The 2015 EMN Study informs that in the majority of Member States a durable solution for a 
unaccompanied  minor  is  not  defined  in  legislation.  Member  States  seek  to  identify  durable 
solutions for them, including return and reintegration (Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, 
Ireland,  Latvia,  Luxembourg,  Malta,  the  Netherlands,  Poland,  Slovenia,  Spain,  Sweden,  the 
United Kingdom, Norway) where such action is deemed to be in the best interests of the child.  

The 2015 EMN Study  also  highlights  efforts to bring about  family reunification in several 
Member  States  (Austria,  Belgium,  the  Czech  Republic,  Germany,  Ireland,  the  Netherlands, 
the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden).  

Integration  in  the  (Member)  State  as  a  durable  solution  is  highlighted  in  Belgium,  Czech 
Republic,  Finland  (where  family  reunification  is  not  possible),  France,  Germany  (where 
family reunification is not possible), Malta, Poland, Spain (where return is not possible), and 
Sweden. 

In  several  Member  States  (Belgium,  Cyprus,  Germany,  France,  Ireland,  Latvia,  Slovenia, 
Slovak Republic, Spain, United Kingdom), a best interests determination procedure is in place 
to  support  the  competent  authority's  decision  on  a  durable  solution  for  the  unaccompanied 
minor.  Whilst it may be in the best interests of the child to find a durable solution as quickly 
as  possible,  in  reality  the  timeframe  for  the  determination  procedure  varies  across  Member 
States, and in most cases, is not limited. Examples of average timeframes include an average 
of under 3 months (Norway); 3-6 months (Germany); and 4-6 months (Slovenia).  

FRA  research  has  also  shown  that,  in  most  Member  States,  no  standardised  procedure  to 
determine  the  most  appropriate  durable  solution  based  on  the  best  interests  of  the  child  has 

156 As  defined  by  the  UN  Committee  on  the  Rights  of  the  Child  (CRC)  General  comment  No.  6  (2005): 
their  Country  of  Origin, 

and  Separated  Children  Outside 

Treatment  of  Unaccompanied 
http://www.refworld.org/docid/42dd174b4.html. 

61 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
been  set  up.  Furthermore,  national  legislation  does  not  always  clearly  define  the  tasks  and 
duties of the guardian concerning the identification of a durable solution.157 

V.I Family tracing 

Actions at the EU level 

Family tracing in and outside of the Member States is crucial for providing a durable solution 
for the unaccompanied children arriving to the EU, and should be carried out irrespective of 
the legal status of the minor.  

The  project  'Supporting  UNHCR  Greece  Emergency  Response  Plan  and  strengthening  the 
capacity of the Asylum Service' has, between its objectives, standardised and comprehensive 
provision  of  children  and  family  protection  services.  The  operation  of  Children  and  Family 
Support Hubs (i.e. Blue Dots) and child friendly spaces on the islands (Lesvos, Chios, Samos, 
Leros  and  Kos)  will  be  supported,  as  a  key  tool  to  improve  children  and  family  protection. 
Child protection activities will include the implementation of the pilot operation of Blue Dots, 
including  legal  support  and  assistance.  Provision  of  alternative  care  arrangements  for 
unaccompanied  and  separated  children,  as  well  as  vulnerable  cases,  will  be  ensured  and 
access  to  education  increased  through  innovative  approaches  and  support  to  Ministry  of 
Education. 

Increased  protection  for  unaccompanied  and  separated  children,  vulnerables,  family 
reunification cases through provision of alternative care arrangements for unaccompanied and 
separated children, as well as vulnerable cases, including reception centres for them or other 
type of accommodation/guardianship in line with the national referral system for them and the 
UNHCR  Child  Protection  Guidelines  on  the  islands,  and  longer  term  accommodation 
facilities in the mainland. 

FRA's  Handbook  on  Guardianship  has  underlined  the  role  of  guardians  in  family  tracing 
procedures  and  for  the  identification  and  implementation  of  durable  solutions  for 
unaccompanied  children,  including  through  family  reunification  and  Dublin  procedures. 
Updates  on  family  tracing  and  family  reunification  should  be  included  in  future  monthly 
reports by FRA on the asylum and migration situation, providing therefore useful guidance to 
the Member States.  

EASO  has  published  in  July  2016  a  Practical  Guide  on  Family  Tracing  to  support  national 
authorities  to  establish  tracing  processes.158  The  publication  includes  a  set  of  reference  and 
guidance materials on the family tracing process (including a flow chart model, a glossary, a 
set of recommendations, as well as a mapping of family tracing policies and practices carried 
out in the EU+ States). 

Actions in EU Member States 

157  FRA,  2015,  Guardianship  systems  for  children  deprived  of  parental  care  in  the  European  Union  -  With  a 

particular focus on their role in responding to child trafficking. 

158 https://www.easo.europa.eu/sites/default/files/public/EASO%20Practical%20Guide%20on%20Family%20Tr

acing.pdf.  

62 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Family reunification for unaccompanied children who receive a form of protection is based on 
the best interests of the child. Tracing the family of the asylum seeking unaccompanied minor 
is conducted as soon as possible. 

For  the  year  2015,  Italy  reported  that  approximately  440  family  tracing  activities  were 
conducted  in  countries  of  origin  and  in  third  countries  Italy  reported  17  voluntary  return 
decisions issued in 2015. 

Sweden  reported  on  partnerships  with  children’s  rights  organisations,  such  as  “African 
Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN)” in 
Uganda  or  “Bayti”,  an  organisation  for  the  protection  of  children  in  Morocco  as  well  as 
dialogues with organisations in Somalia and Afghanistan.  

V.2   Return and reintegration in the country of origin 

Actions at the EU level 

Return  to  the  country  of  origin  may  in  certain  cases,  be  in  the  best  interest  of  the 
unaccompanied  minors.  It  may  also  be  an  important  deterrent  from  coming  to  the  EU  by 
undertaking perilous journeys, often using smugglers' services.  

(a) Funding  

Projects under the European Return Fund: 

Project title/ 
Promoter and Partners 

Return 
European 
“The 
Platform  for  Unaccompanied 
Minors. 

HOME/2009/RFXX/CA/1001 
“Addressing 
the  needs  of 
UAMs in Greece”  

HOME/2011/RFXX/CA/EA/4
002 
Coordinator: 
IOM (Greece) 

 

Fund/instrument 
Amount 
Implementation 
period 
Co-funded  by  the 
Return Fund 2009 
EUR 979,235.21  
15 January 2011 – 
31 December2012 
Co-funded  by  the 
return 
Fund 
Emergency 
Assistance  2011 
and  Sweden,  the 
Netherlands, 
Denmark  and  the 
United Kingdom 
EUR 
1,052,190.07  
1 February 2013 – 
31 October 2014 

Objectives 

Expected 
and deliverables 

results 

of 

The  programme 
aims 
to  assist 
and  protect  the 
rights 
all 
unaccompanied 
children 
in 
who 
Greece, 
wish 
to 
voluntarily 
to 
return 
countries 
origin159. 

their 
of 

Identify 

- 
unregistered 
unaccompanied 
children and channel 
relevant 
them 
to 
authorities 
for 
protection  and  BID 
process 
the 
-  Supporting 
the 
in 
authorities 
BID 
process, 
family-tracing, 
coordinate 

family 

159 http://www.oijj.org/sites/default/files/greece_good_practice_-

_addressing_the_needs_of_unaccompanied_minors__uams__in_greece-1.pdf. 

63 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
if 

to  return 
country 

and 
assessment 
provide  support  for 
they 
the  minor 
to 
wish 
of 
their 
origin 
To  build  synergies 
family 
within 
tracing  procedures 
and  methodologies 
in  the  EU  Member 
States  and  enhance 
sustainable 
the 
reintegration 
and 
family  support  for 
unaccompanied 
children  choosing  to 
return  voluntarily  to 
their  countries  of 
origin.  

aimed 

at 
a 
and 

MRM 
developing 
monitoring 
evaluation 
that 
instrument 
a 
to 
contributes 
more 
sustainable 
and  safe  return  of 
children 
project 
The 
- 
culminated 
a 
in 
presentation  of  the 
the 
outcomes 
European 
Parliament 
February 2014 

in 

in 

“Enhancing  capacities  in  EU 
third 
Member  States  and 
countries  to  promote  durable 
solutions  for  unaccompanied 
minors” 

HOME/2011/RFXX/CA/1007 

of 

returned 

“Monitoring 
minors project” (MRM) 
HOME/2011/RFXX/CA/1004 
Promoter: 

for 

Co-financed 
by 
the  Return  Fund 
2011,  Austrian 
Federal  Ministry 
of the Interior, the 
Belgian  Federal 
the 
Agency 
Reception 
of 
Asylum  Seekers 
the  Dutch 
and 
the 
Ministry  of 
interior 
and 
Kingdom 
Relations  
EUR 444,281.26  
1  January  2013  – 
September 
30 
2014 
Co-financed 
the Return Fund 
1 November 2012 
– 30 April 2014 

by 

  The  European  Network  of 
Institutions 

Guardianship 
(ENGI) 
Partners: 

  NIDOS (the Netherlands) 
  Micado Migration 
  The University of Groningen 

“Ad-Hoc  Query  on  Return  of 
Unaccompanied Minors)162 
Promoter: 

13 
November 
2012 – 10 January 
2013 

  EMN 

To identify good 
in 
practices 
tracing 
family 
and  assess 
the 
provision  of  an 
enhanced 
reintegration 
approach160. 

This 
project 
started  from  the 
conviction 
that 
independent, 
systematic, 
methodology-
based 
monitoring 
returned 
children  would 
enable 
better 
decision-making 
assistance 
and 
for 
the 
children161. 

of 

-  To  assess  the 
number 
of 
unaccompanied 
children  in  the 

160 http://www.iomvienna.at/en/enhancing-capacities-eu-member-states-and-third-countries-promote-durable-

solutions-unaccompanied. 

161 http://engi.eu/projects/monitoring-of-returned-minors/.  
162http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/networks/european_migration_network/reports/docs/ad-hoc-
queries/return/439_emn_ad-hoc_query_on_return_of_uam_13november2012_wider_dissemination.pdf  

64 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Member  States 
and  the  number 
of 
them 
removed to their 
of 
country 
origin. 
-  To  determine 
conditions 
the 
under  which  a 
removal  can  be 
carried  out  and 
specific 
the 
arrangements 
applied  or  not 
to 
applied 
unaccompanied 
children 
compared  to  the 
law 
common 
procedure.  
To  analyse  the 
Member  States’ 
entry 
of 
use 
bans 
and 
readmission 
agreements  with 
a  specific  focus 
on their practical 
application  and 
effectiveness, 
also  identifying 
good  practices, 
including 
possible 
synergies  with 
the 
implementation 
of  reintegration 
measures.  

understand 
To 
what  is  foreseen 
in  theory  and  in 
practice  in  other 
Member  States 

“Good  practices  in  the  return 
and  reintegration  of  irregular 
States’ 
migrants:  Member 
entry  bans  policy  and  use  of 
readmission 
agreements 
between  Member  States  and 
third countries”163 
Promoter: 

  EMN 

“Ad-Hoc  Query  on  detention 
and removal of minors” 164 
Promoter: 

2014 – 19 January 
2015 

  EMN 

to 

inform 

-  Presenting 
the 
main  findings  of  the 
study 
focused 
relating 
the 
Member 
States’ 
entry  bans  policies 
and 
of 
use 
readmission 
agreements.  
- This could serve to 
further 
the 
States’ 
Member 
policies, 
return 
full 
in 
securing, 
compliance  with  the 
Charter 
of 
fundamental  rights, 
dignified, 
the 
effective 
and 
sustainable return. 
For Belgium to have 
an  understanding  of 
the  practice  in  other 
States 
Member 
the 
relating 

to 

163 http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/networks/european_migration_network/reports/docs/emn-

studies/emn_study_reentry_bans_and_readmission_agreements_final_december_2014.pdf.  

164 http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/networks/european_migration_network/reports/docs/ad-hoc-
queries/return/2014_631_emn_ahq_detention_and_removal_of_minors_19january2015(wider_dissemination)
.pdf.  

65 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
“The West African Network” 

Co-financed 
by 
the  Commission 
its 
through 
Thematic 
programme 
Cooperation  with 
Non-EU  Member 
Countries  in  the 
area  of  migration 
and asylum 

on  detention  of 
children  and  to 
review  statistics 
of 
detained 
children  and  of 
how 
which 
many 
have 
effectively  been 
removed.  
To 
strengthen 
the  capacities  of 
West  African 
countries 
in 
order  for  them 
to  better  assist 
nationally 
and 
transnationally 
the 
vulnerable 
children  on  the 
move and ensure 
social, 
their 
education 
or 
vocational 
reintegration.  

and 
detention 
removal of children.  

risky 
To  prevent 
displacement 
of 
children,  to  identify 
and  protect 
them 
to 
and 
reintegrate 
in  a  family 
them 
environment 
supported 
educational 
professional 
project165. 

an 
or 

by 

In addition to this, the curriculum for training European Return Liaison Officers (EURLO) is 
being prepared by the EURLO project, an initiative coordinated by Belgium and co-financed 
by AMIF. The project aims at increasing the efficiency of joint return operations for all EU 
Member  States  by  posting  EU  Return  Liaison  Officers  in  non-EU  countries  and  improving 
existing Immigration Liaison Officers networks.  

(b) Legislative monitoring 

In  October  2013,  a  Final  Report  on  the  evaluation  on  the  implementation  of  the  Return 
Directive  (2008/115/EC)  was  adopted.166  The  contractor  was  a  consortium  led  by  Matrix, 
including ICMPD, the Odysseus Network, ECRE and the Centre for European Policy Studies, 
as  well  as  a  number  of  individual  experts,  was  contracted  in  December  2012  aiming  to 
analyse  how  the  benchmarks  (common  standards)  fixed  by  the  Directive  had  been 
implemented by 31 countries, including 25 Member States, 4  Schengen Associated Countries 
as well as the United Kingdom and Ireland. 

The  Commission  adopted  on  1  October  2015  a  Recommendation  establishing  a  European 
Commission Return Handbook167 to be used by Member States' authorities when carrying out 
return-related tasks, including guidance on returning unaccompanied children, for the purpose 
of training and as a point of reference for Schengen Evaluations on return.  

165 http://www.resao.org/en/le_reseau_afrique_de_louest. 
166 http://ec.europa.eu/smart-regulation/evaluation/search/download.do?documentId=10737855  
167 Commission Recommendation C 2015/6250 final, of 1.10.2015; http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-
we-do/policies/european-agenda-migration/proposal-implementation-package/docs/return_handbook_en.pdf 

66 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Many  sections  of  the  Return  Handbook  relate  directly  to  the  situation  of  unaccompanied 
children in the EU and their special protection needs.  

The Return Handbook covers in particular the following child-related issues: 

  Need to pay attention to the needs of vulnerable persons (including children) in all 

stages of the return procedure (section 1.8); 

  Safeguards  for  vulnerable  persons  (including  children)  in  border  procedures 

(section 2.2); 

  Respect of fundamental rights in apprehension practices (section 5); 
  Extension  of  voluntary  departure  periods  for  family  or  school  related  reasons 

(section 6.1) 

  Best interest assessment in return procedures (Section 10); 
  Assistance  by  bodies  responsible  for  care  and  protection  of  children  in  return 

procedures (section 10.1) 

  Adequateness of reception facilities in third-countries (section 10.2); 
  Safeguards  pending  postponed  return,  such  as:  schooling,  healthcare,  basic 

subsistence (section 13) 

  Criteria for possible regularisation (section 13.2); 
  Safeguards in relation to detention (section 16). 

The Handbook bases itself, to a large extent, on the work conducted by Member States and 
the Commission within the "Contact Group Return Directive". It does not create any legally 
binding  obligations  upon  Member  States.  Only  the  legal  acts  on  which  it  is  based  can  be 
invoked  before  the  courts.  The  main  message  given  by the Handbook  is  that  efficiency  and 
respect for fundamental rights are no contradictions.  

In  the  framework  of  the  Schengen  evaluation  visits  on  Return,168  the  treatment  of 
unaccompanied children in return procedures is always verified, to ensure that the principle of 
the best interests of the child is duly taken into account. A FRA risk analysis submitted to the 
Commission on the basis of a request under Article 8 of Regulation (EU) No. 1052/2013 in 
preparation  of  Schengen  evaluations  of  the  EU  return  acquis  identifies  several  risks  for 
children in return procedures, relating, for example to the detention of families with children 
and  unaccompanied  children  (separation  of  families,  lack  of  procedural  safeguards, 
conditions,  duration,  lack  of  alternatives),  the  apprehension  of  children  at  schools,  the 
availability  and  qualification  of  guardians,  and  the  lack  of  safeguards  particularly  for  older 
children. 

Where  necessary,  based  on  the  findings  of  the  evaluations,  recommendations  were  made  to 
Member States in order to ensure that the best interests of the child, including the option of 
return,  is  duly  considered  States.  In  the  framework  of  these  missions,  meetings  are  usually 
conducted with youth welfare authorities or organizations in charge of ensuring guardianship 
and the Schengen  evaluation  expert teams visit  the facilities where  unaccompanied  children 
are held in case they exist. Continued attention will be given to this issue in future Schengen 
evaluations. 

To ensure that all return operations carried out by the newly-established European Border and 
Coast  Guard  Agency  respect  children's  rights,  the  European  Border  and  Coast  Guard 

168 Schengen Evaluation Mechanism EU/1053/2013. 

67 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Regulation,  provides  that  the  Agency  acts  in  accordance  with  the  respect  of  fundamental 
rights and general principles of Union and international law, including children's rights. When 
assisting  in  return  operations  involving  children,  the  Agency  should  make  available  forced- 
return  monitors,  forced  return  escorts  and  return  specialists  with  specific  expertise  in  child 
protection from the respective pools set up with the contribution of the Member States. The 
Agency should develop specific training tools, including specific training in the protection of 
children.  

Frontex  included  further  good  practices  on  the  treatment  of  children  within  family  groups 
during joint return operations in their Guide on Joint Return Operations. It is to be noted that 
Frontex does not return unaccompanied children in these operations.  

(c) Detention  

In some instances, children have been accommodated in closed facilities due to a shortage of 
suitable  alternative  reception  facilities.  States  must  do  everything  possible  to  ensure  the 
availability and accessibility of a viable range of alternatives to the administrative detention of 
children  in  migration.169    FRA  Fundamental  Rights  Report  2016  and  its  focus  chapter  on 
asylum  and  migration  in  the  EU  in  2015,  discusses  key  challenges  and  protection  gaps  in 
addressing the specific needs of children, pointing out among other issues to use of detention 
practices and insufficient guardianship arrangements. 

Under EU law, administrative detention  – and especially the detention of children  –  is  only 
allowed  in  exceptional  circumstances,  for  the  shortest  time  possible,  and  never  in  prison 
accommodation.  Article  17  of  the  Return  Directive  (2008/115/EC)  provides  that  detention 
measures of children within the return procedure should be a “measure of last resort and for 
the shortest appropriate period of time”. Moreover, while detained, unaccompanied children 
shall  have  the  possibility  to  access  leisure  activities  which  are  appropriate  to  the  age  of  the 
minor as well as education, depending on the duration of stay before return; In addition, they 
should be, as far as possible, provided with accommodation in institutions with personnel and 
facilities which take into account the needs of persons of their age. 

The 2015 EMN Report shows that the legislation of most of the Member States provides for 
the  possibility  to  detain  unaccompanied  children,  albeit  special  conditions  and  guarantees 
apply.  A  considerable  number  of  Member  States  may  also  subject  them  to  forced  return 
procedures. Further, whilst most Member States provide appropriate safeguards under which 
unaccompanied  children  may  be  returned  voluntarily  or  detained,  they  do  not  consistently 
report  on  the  extent  to  which  reintegration  programmes  may  be  adapted  to  the  needs  of 
children overall and their specific circumstances. 

Around  half  of  the  (Member)  States  adopt  detention  measures  for  unaccompanied  children 
awaiting  return,  according  to  national  legislation  (Austria,  Croatia,  the  Czech  Republic, 
Finland, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden, the 
United  Kingdom,  Norway).  In  several  Member  States  unaccompanied  children  cannot  be 
detained whilst awaiting return (Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, 
Lithuania,  Portugal).  Belgium  and  France  do  not  detain  children  awaiting  return  except  in 
limited  situations.  In  Germany,  the  possibility  of  detaining  an  unaccompanied  minor  before 
the  detention  of 
return  differs  across  Federal  Länder.  Further 

information  about 

169 See background reading, UNHCR standards on detention, and Items 84-88 under “Alternatives to detention” 

http://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/document.cfm?doc_id=42359.  

68 

 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
                                                            
unaccompanied  children  whilst  awaiting  return  is  also  available  in  the  2014  EMN,  EU 
Synthesis  report  on  the  use  of  detention  and  alternatives  to  detention  in  the  context  of  the 
immigration policies.170 

FRA is conducting research on migration detention of children in the 28 EU Member States. 
The research includes a collection of information on immigration detention of children, both 
unaccompanied and children with their parents or guardian, who are deprived of liberty under 
the EU asylum or return acquis. It focuses on selected aspects which can be seen as indicators 
of immigration detention practices in the EU Member States, covering issues such as access to 
health and education, monitoring of detention facilities and ensuring the children’s wellbeing. 
FRA’s  work  on  migration  detention  is  conducted  in  close  cooperation  with  CoE,  inter  alia 
within  the  context  of  its  work  on  developing  European  standards  on  the  conditions  of 
migration detention.  

In  the  context  of  its  work  in  the  area  of  migration,  asylum  and  borders,  FRA  published  a 
compilation  on  “Alternatives  to  detention  for  asylum  seekers  and  people  in  return 
procedures”, addressing unaccompanied children and families171. The compilation of existing 
sources seeks to provide guidance to policy makers and practitioners on the use of measures 
regarding  children  and  families  in  asylum  and  return  procedures  to  avoid  unnecessary 
detention and to safeguard the best interests of the child, in accordance with international and 
European law172.    

FRA Fundamental Rights Report 2016 and its focus chapter on asylum and migration in the 
EU in 2015, discusses key challenges and protection gaps in addressing the specific needs of 
children,  pointing  out  among  other  issues  to  use  of  detention  practices  and  insufficient 
guardianship arrangements. 173 

Actions in the Member States  

The  2015  EMN  Study  provided  an  overview  of  return  arrangements  and  practices  in  the 
Member  States,  including  measures  for  the  reintegration  of  the  returned  children  in  their 
countries of origin.  

As  indicated  in  the  2015  EMN  Study,  most  Member  States  provide  for  the  possibility  of 
voluntary  return  of  unaccompanied  children  (Austria,  Belgium,  Croatia,  Cyprus,  the  Czech 
Republic,  Estonia,  Finland,  France,  Germany,  Greece,  Hungary,  Ireland,  Italy,  Latvia, 
Lithuania,  Luxembourg,  Malta,  the  Netherlands,  Poland,  the  Slovak  Republic,  Slovenia, 
Sweden,  the  United  Kingdom).174  For  an  overview  of  Member  States  programs  to  support 
return  and  reintegration  in  third  countries,  see  the  EMN  Return  Experts  Group  Directory 
“Connecting Return Experts across Europe”.175 

170 http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/networks/european_migration_network/reports/docs/emn- 

studies/emn_study_detention_alternatives_to_detention_synthesis_report_en.pdf.  

171 http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2015/alternatives-detention-asylum-seekers-and-people-return-procedures.  
172 http://fra.europa.eu/en/news/2015/fra-publishes-paper-alternatives-detention.  
173 http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2016/fundamental-rights-report-2016. 
174 Further details available in Annex 4 to the 2015 EMN Report. 
175 http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/networks/european_migration_network/reports/docs/emn-

studies/emn_reg_directory_final_28102014.pdf.   

69 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Member States apply special circumstances under which unaccompanied children may return 
voluntarily  to  countries  of  origin:  in  order  to  protect  the  minor,  responsible  authorities 
perform  an  inquiry  regarding  the  situation  and  conditions  in  the  country  of  origin  paying 
particular attention to the best interests of the child. Since December 2013, UNICEF National 
Committees  in  some  Member  States  (e.g.  Belgium,  the  Netherlands  and  Sweden)  have 
developed child-specific country of origin reports as part of a project financially supported by 
the Commission. Such Child Notices describe the situation of children in countries of origin.  

Some Member States also perform family tracing, and the family situation in the country of 
origin, living conditions and family's capability to take care of the minor (Cyprus, Ireland, the 
Slovak Republic, the United Kingdom).  

Member  States  set  up  different  measures  and  arrangements  in  order  to  ensure  the  best 
interests of the minor during the return procedure, for example:  

  Verification  that  the  minor  will  be  handed  over  to  a  parental  authority  or  an 
appropriate  institution/  care  centre  (Austria,  Estonia,  Finland,  France,  Germany, 
Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Sweden).  

  Written  agreement  of  a  parent/relative  or  a  legal  appointed  guardian  (Austria, 
Belgium,  Finland,  Germany,  Poland,  Slovenia,  Norway),  who  has  to  pick  up  the 
minor at the arrival destination and take care of him/ her.  

  Assistance  provided  by  appropriate  services  before  departure,  different  from  those 

dealing with the return of adults (Greece). 

  Very  young  children  are  accompanied  to  the  country  of  origin  or  another  third 
country by the appointed guardian (e.g. Belgium, Poland), or in the case of Finland 
children below the age of 15 are escorted by the IOM. 

Several  (Member)  States  (Austria,  Belgium,  Croatia,  Cyprus,  Estonia,  Germany,  Hungary, 
Latvia,  Lithuania,  Luxembourg,  Malta,  the  Netherlands,  Poland,  Slovenia,  Sweden,  the 
United  Kingdom  and  Norway)  may  (forcibly)  return  unaccompanied  children  provided  that 
the conditions laid down in the Directive are satisfied. More specifically:  

  All (Member) States provide for adequate assistance, as well as a prior assessment of 
the best interests of the child before returning an unaccompanied minor. Upon return, 
the  minor  has  to  be  handed  over  to  a  family  member,  an  appointed  guardian  or  an 
appropriate care centre. 

  In Belgium and Germany, the authority further assesses whether the minor needs to 
be  accompanied  when  leaving  the  territory  and  until  the  arrival  at  the  country  of 
destination. 

  In  Lithuania,  the  competent  authority  takes  into  consideration  the  needs,  age  and 
level of independence of the unaccompanied minor before deciding on the return. 

More than half of the Member States  provide reintegration support in  countries of origin  to 
unaccompanied  children  who  (voluntarily)  return  (Austria,  Belgium,  Finland,  Germany, 
Greece,  Hungary,  Ireland,  Italy,  Latvia,  Lithuania,  Luxembourg,  the  Netherlands,  Malta, 
Poland, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Norway), as opposed to 
seven (Member) States (Bulgaria, Croatia Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Lithuania) where 
reintegration plans have not been implemented or information was not provided. 176 

176 See further information at p. 37 et seq. of the 2015 EMN Report.  

70 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
As regards the year 2015:  

  Hungary  reported  to  return  one  male  unaccompanied  minor  as  a  part  of  assisted 
voluntary  return  measures  and  one  male  unaccompanied  minor  as  a  part  of  forced 
return measures. 

  In Malta, the Children and Young Persons Advisory Board forms part of the Ministry 
for  Family  and  Social  Solidarity.  No  unaccompanied  children  have  been  returned 
against  their  will.  In  recent  years  there  were  some  children  who  did  opt  to  return 
voluntarily  under  an  Assisted  Voluntary  Return  and  Reintegration  programme  to 
Egypt, following an assessment conducted by the IOM including their families and 
the conditions of return. When it could not be ascertained that care would be taken in 
the country of origin, the voluntary return was not affected. However in one case this 
was successfully conducted. 

Good practice – assistance to unaccompanied children in Greece 

Regarding return and reintegration of unaccompanied children, Sweden has, together with the 
Commission  and  certain  Member  States,  provided  funding  for  the  IOM  programme 
“Addressing the needs of unaccompanied children in Greece”. The programme began in 2013 
and  a  final  report  was  presented  in  June  2015.  Through  the  programme,  IOM  was  given  a 
unique  opportunity  to  learn  more  about  and  offer  assistance  to  unaccompanied  children  in 
Greece.  As  a  result,  IOM  is  now  preparing  a  detailed  guide  on  return  and  reintegration  of 
unaccompanied children in Greece which is based on the data collected under the programme. 

V.3  International  protection  status,  other 
unaccompanied children 

legal  status  and 

integration  of 

Integration of legally present unaccompanied minors into the host societies is key in view of 
protecting children's rights, ensuring their development and preserving social cohesion while 
at the same time preventing secondary movements and the phenomenon of missing children. 
Member States continued to develop their integration policies to different degrees, depending 
on their respective national contexts.  

Early access to inclusive and non-segregated education, health care and an adequate standard 
of living are key elements for the integration of unaccompanied children in the host countries. 
The  child's  best  interests  –  as  well  as  the  child's  individual  background,  needs  and 
experiences,  need  to  be  considered  in  the  identification  and  selection  of  durable  solutions. 
Quality  services  and  care  needs  to  be  ensured.  Improvement  of  living  conditions  and 
healthcare (including mental healthcare) provision is critical, and reception and care in foster 
families or adequate reception facilities is also capital. It is essential that any person in direct 
contact with children receives initial and continuous training. Guardians also have a key role 
to play when it comes to building trust with the child and facilitating integration. Supporting 
measures preparing the transition from childhood to adulthood should be further promoted. 

Actions at the EU level 

71 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
At EU level, the Commission continued to promote close cooperation between Member States 
in  this  area,  facilitating  exchanges  of  best  practices  and  providing  financial  support  to  pilot 
projects on unaccompanied minors.  For instance, the CONNECT project lead to a series of 
tools  useful  for  all  actors  involved  in  the  protection,  reception  and  integration  of  this 
particularly vulnerable category of migrants.  

The  Commission  has  recently  adopted  its  Action  Plan  on  the  integration  of  third  country 
nationals,177  followed  by  Council  conclusions178  on  the  topic,  in  which  Member  States 
committed to increased efforts in this area.  

The  Action  Plan  sets  out  around  fifty  priority  actions  to  further  the  integration  of  migrants 
across  the  EU,  including  of  migrant  children.  Ensuring  and  promoting  early  and  effective 
access to education is amongst the most powerful tools for integration of children, fostering 
social cohesion and mutual understanding. The Action Plan identifies in this respect several 
key  actions,  promoting  both  formal  and  non-formal  learning  activities  such  as  welcome 
classes,  use  of  online  educational  platforms,  recognition  of  academic  qualifications  and 
integration into higher education, as well as supporting the school community in developing 
an inclusive and tailored made education.  

The  Commission  has  already  started  the  implementation  of  the  Action  Plan  in  close 
cooperation  with  the  Member  States.  Among  the  key  steps  achieved  to  this  day  are  several 
calls  for  proposals  that  have  been  launched  across  policy  areas  with  integration  of  third-
country nationals as a main priority, as well as the establishment of the European Integration 
Network with representatives from all Member States, Norway and Iceland, whose mandate 
will  be  to  foster  the  coordination  among  all  actors  working  on  integration  and  to  facilitate 
mutual learning.  

(a) Funding 

The  Commission  has  financed  several  projects  targeting  unaccompanied  children  under  the  
Programme Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows, which covered the period 2007-
2013.  Both  the  European  Refugee  Fund  and  the  European  Fund  for  the  Integration  of  third 
country nationals supported projects on unaccompanied children included linguistic and civic 
education, extra-curriculum activities in schools and other measures aimed at facilitating the 
education  and  the  social  inclusion  of  unaccompanied  children.  Since  2014,  unaccompanied 
children  became  a  horizontal  priority  under  the  new  AMIF  and  several  projects  have  been 
successfully implemented in this area. 

Several projects have been funded by the EU in order to support this objective. Most of them 
do not focus explicitly on unaccompanied children as a targeted group but contain transversal 
references to them although not from an explicit approach.  

Among  EU  funded  projects  aiming  at  the  integration  of  migrants  as  a  durable  solution,  the 
NET  4  U  project179  (Networks  for  unaccompanied  children’  integration)  considered  the 
integration  of  a  specific  target  group,  namely  unaccompanied  children,  from  a  variety  of 
perspectives,  including  education.  Its  main  objective  was  to  improve  the  integration  of 

177 COM(2016) 377 final. 
178 http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-15312-2016-INIT/en/pdf. 
179 http://www.oijj.org/en/net-for-u-introduction.  

72 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
unaccompanied children with appropriate training and education, but also to propose leisure 
activities  for  them,  including  opportunities  to  participate  in  cultural  life  in  the  host  country 
and country of origin, strengthening their social networks. To achieve this, the project drew 
up  an  intervention  programme  for  unaccompanied  children  and  new  forms  of  transnational 
cooperation within and between services and stakeholders. 

Other EU Funds, the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI funds) can support the 
effective  long-term  integration  of  migrants  and  refugees,  including  migrant  children,  in  the 
context  of  general  social  inclusion  and  education  measures.  Comprised  in  particular  of  the 
European Social Fund and the European Regional Development (ERDF), the ESI Funds' total 
allocation for inclusive growth priorities for the 2014-2020 programming period is EUR 44.4 
billion.  The  total  allocation  of  the  ERDF  inclusive  growth  priorities  in  the  2014-2020 
programming period is EUR 21.4 billion.  

ESI  funds  can  invest  in  a  broad  range  of  measures,  including  social,  health,  education, 
housing,  childcare,  etc.,  to  address  the  specific  needs  of  migrant  children.  Investments  in 
health,  for  instance,  could  support  service  providers  (doctors,  nurses,  social  workers) 
addressing the trauma suffered by refugee children or the gaps in vaccinations and nutrition 
programs.  In  line  with  the  principles  of  non-segregation  and  de-institutionalisation, 
investments should not be used for detention centres or to create segregated neighbourhoods 
and  schools.  Support,  financial  or  other,  can  be  given  to  non-governmental  organisations 
representing  unaccompanied  migrant  children  and  to  encourage  local  authorities  to  work  in 
partnership with them. 

The Commission is supporting a EUR 92 million reintegration package in Asian countries to 
support  the  sustainable  reintegration  of  returnees,  as  already  described  part  III  on  the 
prevention of unsafe migration and trafficking. 

A  specific  example  of  the  use  of  ERDF  funding  is  the  Italian  Operational  Programme 
Sicurezza,180 which has so far financed 99 projects for setting up multifunctional centres for 
legal migrants in the four regions covered by the programme (Sicily, Campania, Calabria and 
Puglia). The ERDF allocation for this programme is EUR 79 million. The actions supported 
by  the  programme  include  setting  up  of  areas  for  temporary  accommodation  of  immigrants 
with  recreational  and  sports  areas,  language  labs  and  activities  aiming  at  improving 
integration  and  social  inclusion  of  immigrants.  Accompanying  services  also  include 
healthcare and psychological support provided through special arrangements with local health 
centres. 

The  2011  European  Agenda  for  the  Integration  of  Third-Country  Nationals181  called  for 
actions related to the situation of migrant children. Especially efforts in the education system 
are mentioned:  

The average educational level of third-country nationals is below that of EU nationals. Young 
people  with  a  migrant  background  are  at  greater  risk  of  exiting  the  education  and  training 
system  without  having  obtained  an  upper  secondary  qualification.  Additional  efforts  are 
needed  to  prevent  migrant  youth  from  leaving  school  early.  Furthermore  teachers and  other 
staff should receive training for managing diversity. 

180 http://www.sicurezzasud.it/.  
181 http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/news/intro/docs/110720/1_en_act_part1_v10.pdf. 

73 

 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
                                                            
In 2014, the Justice and Home Affairs Council reaffirmed the EU Common Basic Principles 
for Immigrant Integration Policy adopted in 2004, which set out a common approach to the 
integration of third country nationals across the EU, including children as well182. 

Other initiatives and sources on integration of unaccompanied children can be found on the 
European Website on Integration.183  

Legal entry 

FRA  has  published  a  document  on  legal  entry  channels  to  the  EU  for  persons  in  need  of 
international  protection:  a  toolbox,184  which  suggests  that  functioning  family  reunification 
systems,  including  extended  family  members,  is  needed  to  promote  the  implementation  of 
durable solutions in the best interests of the child and to end family separation.   

Actions in EU Member States  

As  indicated  in  the  2015  EMN  Report,  during  their  stay  on  EU  territory,  unaccompanied 
children seeking protection may be granted an EU harmonised protection status or a country-
specific, non-EU harmonised, protection status, which is not covered by the EU acquis (e.g. 
based on humanitarian grounds). Different types of stay/residence permits may be delivered, 
depending  on  whether  they  are  applying  for  asylum  and/  or  are  victims  of  trafficking  in 
human beings. 

During  the  assessment  of  a  claim  for  international  protection,  in  some  Member  States  
(Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, 
Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, the Slovak Republic, Spain) unaccompanied children are 
granted temporary residence permits, certificates, or registration cards. In accordance with the 
recast Qualification Directive, unaccompanied children who have been granted international 
protection receive residence permits based on refugee status or subsidiary protection. On the 
basis of national law, a type of humanitarian status is also possible. 

Based on Directive 2004/81/EC,185 Member States may issue residence permits to victims of 
trafficking in human beings or to persons who have been the subject of an action to facilitate 
irregular  immigration,  in  exchange  for  their  cooperation  with  the  competent,  as  well  as  to 
witnesses  of  crimes  related  to  trafficking  in  human  beings.  Some  Member  States  (Belgium, 
Greece  and  Poland)  may  also  issue  unconditional  residence  permits  to  children  who  were 
victims of trafficking. 

Most  Member  States  (Austria,  Belgium,  Croatia,  Cyprus,  the  Czech  Republic,  Estonia, 
Finland,  Germany,  Greece,  France,  Hungary,  Ireland,  Italy,  Latvia,  Lithuania,  Luxembourg, 
the  Netherlands,  Poland,  Portugal,  the  Slovak  Republic,  Slovenia,  Spain,  the  United 
Kingdom,  Sweden,  Norway)  may  also  grant  residence  permits  to  non-asylum  seeking 
unaccompanied children, or to those of them whose claims for asylum have been rejected. 

182 Council conclusions of the Justice and Home Affairs Council of 5-6 June 2014: 

http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/jha/82745.pdf.    
183 https://ec.europa.eu/migrant-integration/index.cfm?action=furl.go&go=/home?lang=en. 
184 http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2015/legal-entry-channels-eu-persons-need-international-protection-

toolbox.  

185 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A32004L0081.  

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Section  4  of  the  2015  EMN  Study  provides  an  overview  of  the  reception  arrangements  in 
place  in  the  Member  States  for  asylum-seeking  and  non-asylum  seeking  unaccompanied 
children,  including  how  reception  systems  are  organised,  types  of  facilities,    as  well  as  an 
overview  of  the  basic  reception  conditions,  such  as  access  to  healthcare,  education  and 
employment. The same section offers examples of good practices, and identifies gaps in the 
protection  of  unaccompanied  children  in  comparison  to  the  level  of  protection  to  other 
children in the care of the state. 

More  information  on  reception  and  integration  measures  for  asylum-seekers,  including 
unaccompanied children, is provided in the 2013 EMN focused study on ‘The Organisation of 
Reception Facilities for Asylum Seekers in different Member States’.186 

Developments  in  2015:  In  Italy,  social  services  define  for  each  minor  an  educational  and 
professional  path  aimed  at  facilitating  the  integration.  At  the  age  of  18,  unaccompanied 
children can submit their request to remain in Italy.  

Good practice – integration of unaccompanied children– transition to adulthood in Italy 

In order to support unaccompanied children’ integration in the transition period to adulthood, 
especially in the light of ensuring the continuation of their stay in Italy once they turned 18, 
the  Italian  Ministry  of  Labour  and  Social  Policies  intends  to  implement  a  project  aimed  at 
promoting  1,000  individual  grants  in  order  to  enable  children  to  attend  vocational  and 
educational  trainings  defined  on  the  basis  of  their  skills  and  needs.  This  action  aims  at 
supporting  unaccompanied  children  through  empowering  their  skills  and  potentials,  and 
enabling them to access the labour market and become an active member of the society.  

Good practice – integration of unaccompanied children in Malta 

In  Malta,  in  2015,  the  Agency  for  Welfare  of  Asylum  Seekers  ran  an  ERF-funded  project 
called  ‘Information  Sessions  to  residents  of  Open  Centres’  (ERF  2013/04)  where  all 
unaccompanied children attended six information sessions on the following topics: education 
and employment, health, housing, budgeting, hygiene and social skills. 

In Romania the National Authority for Child Protection and Adoption is responsible for the 
treatment  of  unaccompanied  children.  The  best  interest  of  the  child  is  always  carefully 
evaluated. Cultural orientation sessions are organised with the purpose of making the children 
acquainted  with  the  traditions,  habits  and  cultural  values  of  the  Romanian  culture  and  of 
offering practical information regarding the Romanian society.  

Counselling sessions are carried out in order to inform children about their rights in Romania 
and the concrete way of exerting these rights. These include the right to a workplace, the right 
to  social  assistance,  the  right  to  medical  assistance,  access  to  education  and  the  right  to 
housing. Psychological counselling supports children who were granted a form of protection 
in  Romania  during  the  process  of  acquiring  the  abilities  and  the  knowledge  necessary  for 
adapting to the Romanian society. 

186 http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/networks/european_migration_network/reports/docs/emn-
studies/emn_second_focussedstudy2013_oganisation_of_reception_facilities_final_version_28feb2014.pdf.  

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In  2013,  there  were  13  unaccompanied  children  that  obtained  a  form  of  protection  who 
benefited  from  these  assistance  measures,  compared  to  5  unaccompanied  children  in  2014, 
and 4 in 2015. 

Within  the  framework  of  the  European  Refugee  Fund,  and  in  cooperation  with  UNHCR, 
Romania  has  implemented  the  project  "Ensuring  effective  responses  for  vulnerable  asylum 
applicants including children: Promoting appropriate standards for identifying and addressing 
people with special needs requests" in order to establish a mechanism for early identification 
of vulnerable asylum seekers to provide appropriate responses to their needs.  

In  2015,  representatives  of  the  Slovak  administration  participated  in  the  activities  of  the 
Advisory Committee and the Expert Team in implementing the international durable solutions 
project  "Best  practice  in  identifying  and  implementing  durable  solutions  for  separated 
children in Europe". The outcome was the drawing up of the National Report for the Slovak 
Republic  "Durable  solutions  for  separated  children  in  Europe",  which  was  presented  by  the 
League for Human Rights on 11 December 2015.  

Another  project  towards  integration  of  migrants  including  children,  with  explicit  attention 
paid to eradicate hate and extremisms, is run in the UK. The project is called “Educate against 
hate”.  The  purpose  of  this  website  is  to  provide  practical  advice  and  support  to  help  all 
individuals with an interest in keeping children safe from the dangers of hate and extremism.  

V.4 Resettlement 

Resettlement  plays  a  key  role  in  responding  to  the  challenges  of  the  displacement  crisis 
characterised  by  irregular,  dangerous,  and  selective  arrivals. It  is  one  of  the  three  UNHCR 
durable  solutions,  together  with  local  integration  and  voluntary  repatriation.  Resettlement  is 
designed to ensure a more orderly, secure and fair system of protection management between 
states and for persons in need of international protection.  

Many  Member  States  have  set  up  their  own  resettlement  programmes,  which  may  include 
specific references or priority to children or unaccompanied children given their vulnerability.  

Unaccompanied children may fall within several of the UN vulnerability categories which are 
to  be  taken  into  account  when  identifying  the  persons  eligible  for  resettlement.  They  may 
therefore be eligible for resettlement conducted through Member States' national resettlement 
programmes as well as under the ongoing European resettlement schemes established by the 
Conclusions of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States meeting within 
the  Council  on  resettling  through  multilateral  and  national  schemes  20,000  persons  in  clear 
need of international protection187 of 20 July 2015 and the EU-Turkey Statement of 18 March 
2016 respectively. 

The priority regions  for resettlement under the Conclusions of 20 July 2015 included North 
Africa,  the  Horn  of  Africa  and  the  Middle  East,  in  particular  the  countries  covered  by  the 
RDPPs. However, following the EU-Turkey Statement188 it is expected that most resettlement 
in  the  framework  of  this  scheme  should  take  place  from  Turkey.  In  total,  around  EUR  153 

187 11130/15. 
188 http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2016/03/18-eu-turkey-statement/. 

76 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
million were made available from the EU budget to support resettlement efforts of Member 
States under the scheme189. 

Resettlement  of  unaccompanied  children  is  particularly  encouraged  through  financial 
incentives  provided  for  by  the  Union  resettlement  programme  established  by  the  AMIF 
Regulation.190  Under  that  programme,  unaccompanied  children  are  designated  as  one of  the 
vulnerable groups for resettlement. If a Member State resettles a person falling within one of 
these groups it is entitled to a lump sum of EUR 10,000 for each person resettled as opposed 
to the standard lump sum of EUR 6,000. 

Eurostat  statistics  collects  data  on  resettlement  on  a  yearly  basis.  Since  2015,  this  data 
collection  includes  three  new  variables:  (1)  'Country  of  residence',  meaning  the  country  in 
which  the  refugee  was  hosted  and  from  which  he/  she  is  resettled.  (2)  'Decision'  (refugee 
status,  subsidiary  protection,  or  other  positive  decision)  and  (3)  'Resettlement  scheme', 
(whether persons have been resettled within the conditions of the Council Conclusions of 22 
July 2015 or within other resettlement frameworks). In the framework of the request for the 
payment  of  the  annual  balance  (in  accordance  with  Article  44  of  the  AMIF  Regulation), 
Member States need to report on resettled and relocated persons, including how many of these 
persons are unaccompanied children. 

189 This comes on top of the EUR 140 million that was allocated to Member States for resettlement under the 
2014-2015 pledging period of the Union resettlement programme. 
190 Regulation (EU) No 516/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 establishing 

the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund. 

77