On October 24 2014, EMN National Contact Point (NCP) in Germany organised the international conference with the title Unaccompanied Minors - Between Refugee Experience, Youth Welfare, and Residence Law. The event was held in Nuremberg and was attended by two Slovak EMN NCP representatives.
In the first panel, speakers discussed escape routes from countries of origin, personal experiences of unaccompanied minors from their escapes and coping with these experiences. Michael Bock from German Federal Police (Bundespolizei) provided a general overview and basic information on unaccompanied minors in Germany. According to the available statistics, their number has been significantly higher in 2014 than in 2013 while most of them came from Afghanistan. Jakob Schwille from Caritas Deutschland presented the most common reasons for departure of unaccompanied minors from their countries of origin such as separation of family during the escape, forced marriages in their countries of origin, potential marriage in Europe or separation of family during the war conflict. Katrin Schöck from Refugio Bremen pointed out the importance of socio-psychological and therapeutical care for unaccompanied minors while stressing that 45% of them are traumatised. Refugio Bremen provided care for 232 unaccompanied minors in 2013.
The second panel of the conference was focused on the age assessment procedure, accommodation and integration of unaccompanied minors. Eva Britting-Reimer from Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge, BAMF) introduced the age assessment procedure in Germany where both medical non-medical methods are used. Thomas Berthold from Federal Association for Unaccompanied Minor Refugees (Bundesfachverband Unbegleitete Minderjährige Flüchtlinge) continued with the topic of age assessment while talking about centres in Germany in which this procedure is carried out. Björn Bergström from Swedish EMN NCP then focused on the integration of unaccompanied minors in Sweden.
The third panel was devoted to asylum procedure, residence permit and changes when reaching adulthood. Eva Britting-Reimer (BAMF) provided a statistical overview about the asylum procedure of unaccompanied minors in Germany. In 2014, almost 70% of them were granted international protection. The final presentation of Ilka Arun from Dutch EMN NCP was aimed at returns of and reintegration assistance provided to unaccompanied minors in their countries of origin.
More information about the conference including programme and presentations is available on German EMN NCP website.