Unaccompanied Minor Asylum-seekers: Overview of Protection, Assistance and Promising Practices Authors BLANKA HANCILOVA and BERNADETTE KNAUDER English language editor PATRICIA SUTTER M OIM IO 6 19 1 51 - 201 DECEMBER 2011 The authors prepared this report as independent consultants to the International Organization for Migration.The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of IOM or its Member States, the European Commission or any donors of the programme, or partners.The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout the report do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IOM, the donors and partners concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning its frontiers or boundaries. IOM is committed to the principle that humane and orderly migration benefits migrants and society.As an intergovernmental body, IOM acts with its partners in the international community to: assist in meeting the operational challenges of migration; advance understanding of migration issues; encourage social and economic development through migration; and uphold the human dignity and well-being of migrants. Publishers: International Organization for Migration 12 Révay Street H-1065 Budapest, Hungary Tel:+36 1 472 2500 Fax: +36 1 374 0532 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: http://www.iom.hu Photo © IOM 2005 - MCO0805 (Photo: Juliana Quintero) Graphic Design: Siegbald Kft. © 2011 International Organization for Migration (IOM) All rights reserved. No part of this report may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the publishers. This publication is not subject to trade. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of contributors 6 Acronyms 7 List of tables 7 Foreword 8 Executive summary 9 Key findings 9 1 Objectives and methodology 14 1.1 Methodology 15 1.2 Unaccompanied and separated children — definition of terms 16 1.3 Ethical considerations: children-related research 17 1.4 Challenges and limitations 18 2 EU legislation and policy 19 3 Trends in UAMAS 20 4 Good practices 22 4.1 Barriers and facilitators to good practices 23 4.2 Identified promising practices 23 5 Monitoring and evaluation mechanism 26 5.1 Complaints procedure 26 6 Best interest of the child (BIC) 28 6.1 Best interest of the child and durable solutions 28 6.2 Best interest of the child in practice 29 7 Right to information 31 7.1 How are UAMs and UAMAS informed? 31 7.2 Interpretation services 32 8 Guardians and other statutory equivalents 34 8.1 International legal standards on guardianship 34 8.2 EU standards and policies on guardianship and representation 35 8.3 Understanding guardianship 36 9 Qualified legal assistance 44 9.1 International standards 44 9.2 Findings 44 10 Accommodation 46 10.1 International standards 46 10.2 Accommodation facilities 47 10.3 Experiences with accommodation 47 10.4 Identified issues: room for improvement 49 11 Religion, culture and dietary requirements 54 11.1 International law 54 11.2 Practising religion 54 11.3 Religious and dietary requirements 55 11.4 Cultural needs 55 11.5 Integration and social orientation 56 11.6 Leisure time 57 12 Access to health and psychological care 58 12.1 Access to health care 58 12.2 Access to psychological health care 58 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS 13 Skills and competencies development, education and training 60 13.1 Access to education in international law 60 13.2 Importance of education 60 13.3 Access to education 61 13.4 Specialized versus mainstream schools 66 13.5 Motivation to learn versus need to work 66 13.6 Absence of systematic approach and implementation protocols 67 14 Employment 69 15 Former UAMAS: What has changed? 72 15.1 Turning 18 72 15.2 Former UAMAS without legal residence status 77 15.3 Promising practices in the integration of former UAMAS 78 16 Family tracing and reunification 79 16.1 International law 79 16.2 Family tracing and reunification practices 79 17 Deportation and return 81 17.1 International law 81 17.2 Findings 81 18 Lodging asylum claims and asylum procedure 82 18.1 Who is allowed to file for asylum? 82 18.2 Asylum interview 82 18.3 Duration of asylum procedure 84 19 Age assessments 86 20 Detention 88 20.1 Detention practices: assessment findings 88 21 Missing children 90 21.1 Why do children disappear? 91 22 Other gaps in protection and care 92 22.1 Incomplete, contradictory and unclear legislation and competencies 92 22.2 Lack of coordination and cooperation between stakeholders 92 22.3 Insufficient resources allocated and inefficient use of allocated resources 92 22.4 Under-trained and overburdened staff 92 22.5 Return and reintegration 93 22.6 Legal age for migrants set lower than for nationals 93 22.7 Different standards of care for nationals and non-nationals 9 Conclusions 94 References 95 General Bibliography 95 International, European and National Standards 99 Annex: Promising practices 103 Promising practice 1 103 Promising practice 2 104 Promising practice 3 105 5 LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS This report was written by Blanka Hancilova (ARC Network) and Bernadette Knauder (ARC Network) based in part on national reports prepared by: Austria Daniela Blecha, IOMVienna Belgium Ingrid Declunder, Gardanto inc. Agnès Tillinac, IOM Brussels Czech Republic Zuzana Jerabkova, OPU, Organization for Refugees Aid Lucie Sládková, IOM Prague France Jessica Peron, Forum Réfugiés Tahar Khalfoune, Forum Réfugiés Valérie Meynier, Forum Réfugiés Suzana Crassard, Forum Réfugiés Fanny Ruinart, IOM Paris Hungary Robert Gagyi — Hungarian Interchurch Aid Alin Chindea — IOM Budapest Italy Silvia Raudino, Il Dono Netherlands Inge Linssen, Researcher recruited as IOM staff Leonie Hosselet, Researcher recruited as IOM staff Adriana de Fijter, IOM The Hague Adri Zagers, IOM The Hague Slovakia Alena Chudžíková, Center for the Research of Ethnicity and Culture, Bratislava Katarína Fajnorová, Human Rights League, Bratislava Slovenia Marina Uzelac, Slovene Philanthropy Dean Šušmelj, IOM Ljubljana United Kingdom Catherine Gladwell, Refugee Support Network Terry Smith, Independent Consultant 6 Unaccompanied Minor Asylum-seekers: Overview of Protection, Assistance and Promising Practices Acronyms BIC — best interest of the child BID — best interest determination CAUAM — Best Practices for a Coordinated Approach to Assist Unaccompanied Minors in the EU CRC — United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child DRC — Dutch Refugee Council EC — European Commission ECJ — European Court of Justice EMA — Educational Maintenance Allowance EMN — European Migration Network ERF — European Refugee Fund FE — Further Education FRA — European Union Fundamental Rights Agency fUAMAS — former Unaccompanied Minor Asylum-Seeker GCSE — General Certificate of Secondary Education IOM — International Organization for Migration PACCT — Psychiatry Assissting Culturally Diverse Community in Creating Healing Ties SCEP — Separated Children in Europe Programme UAM — Unaccompanied Minor UAMAS — Unaccompanied Minor Asylum-Seeker UNHCR — United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNICEF — United Nations Children’s Fund List of tables Table 1: Overview of interviews conducted...........................................................................................................................21 Table 2. Number of UAMAS per country 2005—2010, based on national assessment reports..................................27 Table 3: Overview of accommodation arrangements ..........................................................................................................71 7 Unaccompanied Minor Asylum-seekers: Overview of Protection, Assistance and Promising Practices Foreword Safeguarding and respecting the rights of unaccompanied minor asylum-seekers (UAMAS) — children who have been separated from their families and are outside their country of citizenship — are at the forefront of the migration agenda of many governments and organizations.Article 22 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in particular obliges Member States to ensure that in providing asylum-seeking children with protection and humanitarian assistance, there should be no distinction made between those who are accompanied and those who are not. At the European Union (EU) level the European Parliament,in its resolution of 25 November 2009 on the Stockholm Programme,spells out the Union’s obligation to protect the “‘most vulnerable groups” and clearly distinguishes unaccompanied minors as a “vulnerable group” that requires “special attention and devotion”.The Commission Action Plan on Unaccompanied Minors 2010— 2014 identifies the need for greater coherence and more cooperation within the EU which“should be based on the respect for the rights of the child as set out in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the UNCRC,in particular the principle of‘the best interests of the child’ which must be the primary consideration in all action related to children taken by public authorities” (Commission Action Plan, 2010:3). In the past few years, the number of unaccompanied minors, or children under 18 years of age who migrate to the EU and are without a parent or guardian, has been on the rise.Although precise statistics on these arrivals are difficult to come by, this much is known: In 2008, more than 11,000 unaccompanied minors lodged applications for asylum in 22 European Member States — a 40 per cent increase from 2007.The