How do Member States and Norway ensure the care and protection of children who arrive in their countries, and what measures are in place in relation to guardianship, education, access to justice, and in the reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic? You will learn about it in the new report of the European Migration Network that maps the legislation, policies and practices in place in the Member States in 2020.
According to Eurostat, the EU Member States and Norway received some 13 550 asylum applications from unaccompanied minors. Although the presence of migrant children registered in the EU has decreased in recent years, the number remained high in 2020.
The report of the European Migration Network “Children in Migration” provides an overview of the progress achieved in 2020 in the implementation of recommendations laid down in the European Commission Communication on the protection of children in migration from 2017. The report is divided into six chapters: identification, registration, reception and asylum procedures, guardianship for unaccompanied minors, alternative (non-institutional) care, access to education (including early childhood education), access to justice, detention and alternatives to detention.
The report is concerned with the categories of minors set out in the 2017 Communication and includes: accompanied minors/families with children; separated children; and unaccompanied minors, including those: recorded within the asylum system, not applying for asylum but recorded within other migration procedures, and those not applying for asylum, who remain outside the asylum or migration protection system.
It is the second edition following the last year’s report Children in Migration that was produced by the EMN in 2019. The report is accompanied by a shorter Inform and Flash.