Visualizzazione post con etichetta unaccompanied minors. Mostra tutti i post
Visualizzazione post con etichetta unaccompanied minors. Mostra tutti i post

Copyright  Credit: AP
Copyright  Credit: AP
 

Il 23 giugno il Capo del Dipartimento, Fabrizio Curcio, ha firmato una nuova ordinanza che introduce nuove disposizioni in favore della popolazione proveniente dall’Ucraina in Italia.

In particolare, il provvedimento intende allineare le disposizioni emergenziali sull’assistenza ai minori stranieri non accompagnati in considerazione di quanto stabilito nell’art. 31-bis del Decreto legge n. 21, convertito con legge 20 maggio 2022 n. 51. Questo articolo prevede che - nell’ambito delle misure assistenziali - il Commissario delegato per i minori non accompagnati, prefetto Francesca Ferrandino, riconosca il rimborso dei costi sostenuti, fino a un massimo di 100 euro al giorno pro capite ai Comuni che  accolgono  minori  non accompagnati provenienti dall’Ucraina nelle strutture autorizzate o accreditate e che sostengono gli  oneri relativi all'affidamento familiare dei minori. La legge n.51, di conversione del DL. n. 21, stanzia oltre 58 milioni di euro per attuare questa misura.

Nuove attività a supporto minori non accompagnati 
In considerazione di questa disposizione sono inoltre apportate modifiche al contributo di sostentamento, disciplinato dalla Ocdpc n. 881 del 29 marzo. Il contributo non è più previsto per l’adulto titolare della tutela legale o affidatario che potrà usufruire del beneficio introdotto dal Decreto-legge n. 21, che risulta più vantaggioso. Per accedere ai benefici previsti, il tutore legale e l'affidatario dovranno quindi rivolgersi al Comune seguendo le istruzioni che il Commissario delegato stabilirà. In conseguenza delle modifiche introdotte è  in corso di aggiornamento la piattaforma che consente di presentare domanda di contributo, dalla quale sarà eliminato il riferimento al tutore legale o all'affidatario. Con l'occasione saranno apportate ulteriori interventi per semplificare la presentazione della domanda.

(Fonte: Dpc)

Emergenza Ucraina: nuove misure per i minori non accompagnati

Copyright   Credit: AP   Il 23 giugno il Capo del Dipartimento, Fabrizio Curcio, ha firmato una nuova ordinanza che introduce nuove ...
Unaccompanied child migrants face dangerous journeys during transit, including abuse and detention, rights organisations have warned, highlighting significant failings in safeguarding unaccompanied minors.

A recent report by UNHCR revealed that nearly 140,000 people arrived in Greece, Italy and Spain in search of safety in 2018. Almost 11,000 of the new arrivals were unaccompanied children.

Additionally, according to the Red Cross, more than 300,000 unaccompanied child migrants are currently at high risk of sexual and gender-based violence during transit.

The perilous journey undertaken by these young migrants without an accompanying adult makes them vulnerable to being assaulted, sexually abused, raped, trafficked into sexual exploitation or forced into "survival sex", according to an International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) report Alone and Unsafe, which shows that the number of unaccompanied child migrants has grown five-fold in five years.

Europe accounted for more than half of unaccompanied minor arrivals in 2017, with more than 158,000 reaching the continent in the first three quarters of the year.

Currently, almost 30 percent of all asylum seekers across that continent are children, half of whom are from just three countries: Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

"The stark reality is that it is now standard practice that children moving through the Mediterranean are abused, trafficked, beaten and discriminated against," said Afshan Khan, UNICEF Regional Director and Special Coordinator for the Refugee and Migrant Crisis in Europe.

A joint UNICEF-IOM report also revealed that children from sub-Saharan Africa are targeted more than any other group, highlighting discrimination and racism along transit routes.

The reason for their departure ranges from abuse at home and peer pressure to violence, says IFRC President Francesco Rocca, who called on UN member countries to address the root causes.

"In Cox's Bazar, for example, we saw many children with their neighbours because their parents were killed," Rocca told Al Jazeera.

"In Niger, we see young girls from Nigeria who sold themselves for sex for as low as $3. In Central America, there's violence that drives them out. It creates a very, very difficult environment for them to live in."
More support needed

More than 40 percent of all child asylum seekers are girls. A poll by UNICEF late last year revealed that almost half of nearly 4,000 refugees and migrants aged 14 to 24 were forced to leave their countries, 44 percent of them left alone.

Some 38 percent said they did not receive any help from anyone, including family, friends or relatives, while almost half the respondents reported that they had been unable to see a doctor when needed.

"While politicians are squabbling over migration, 4,000 uprooted children and young people are telling us they need more support," said Laurence Chandy, Director of Data, Research and Policy for UNICEF.

"Uprooted children can teach us a great deal about their needs and vulnerabilities if we are willing to hear them. Migration is inevitable, but the danger and discrimination experienced by refugee and migrant children doesn't have to be."

The risks, including sexual and gender-based violence, do not abate once these child migrants arrive in a country of destination, according to the IFRC.

A study, based on interviews with unaccompanied children from Horn of Africa countries who migrated to the United Kingdom, revealed that 72 percent of the respondents experienced more than one incident of sexual violence upon arrival - most of these incidents happened in the first 12 months after their arrival in the UK.

This shows that their safety is not guaranteed, even after reaching the desired destination country, added Rocca.

"If there isn't enough protection in the country of destination, there is a very high risk of being exploited and exposed to the violence. These vulnerable people can also be forced to the labour market."

Autore: Faras Ghani
Fonte:AL JAZEERA NEWS






E-BOOK GRATIS

SCARICA GRATUITAMENTE LA GUIDA PRATICA
I Minori Stranieri non Accompagnati

Abuse, 'survival sex' a stark reality for child migrants: Report

Unaccompanied child migrants face dangerous journeys during transit, including abuse and detention, rights organisations have warned, high...

Unaccompanied minors traveling to Europe for protection pose a significant challenge to the authorities. InfoMigrants takes a closer look at the protection mechanism and its shortcomings for underage migrants in Germany.

A person is registered as an "unaccompanied minor refugee" if he or she is under the age of 18 and has fled without his or her family. Sometimes minors become separated from other family members while traveling, or it could be that the minor decided to flee his or her country alone. In Germany and other European Union member states, there is a specific procedure for protection for those identified as unaccompanied minors.
What happens once someone is identified as an unaccompanied minor?
Children in Germany have a right to health and safety. The youth welfare office, the "Jugendamt," is responsible for ensuring this right for all children, including unaccompanied minor refugees. If someone is identified as an unaccompanied minor, the youth welfare office becomes responsible for him or her.
First, a caretaker is appointed, who begins by sorting out the immediate accommodation for the child. If the unaccompanied child has relatives in Germany, it might be possible for the minor to be housed with them. Otherwise, the child will be accommodated with a foster family or in an asylum home. This process is called "Inobhutnahme," which means "taking into care."
The youth office initiates a clearing procedure ("Clearingverfahren") which works differently in each of the 16 German states. The procedure usually starts with an initial overview, "Erstscreening", which includes a medical examination and some tests for age assessment. The methods that are used range from a simple examination to X-raying the wrist, jaw or collarbone.
Accomodation for unaccompanied minor refugees in Dresden, Germany
Accomodation for unaccompanied minor refugees in Dresden, Germany

The youth welfare office also estimates whether the implementation of the subsequent distribution procedure might endanger the child's best interests in physical or psychological terms.
All this happens in the first fourteen days after an individual is recognized as a minor. After that, the child will be transferred to another state. During the clearing process, the Foreigners' Registration Office ("Ausländerbehörde") clarifies the residency status.
What are the next steps in the distribution?
Children and juveniles become the responsibility of the youth welfare officials to which they have been assigned. The next step is to apply for guardianship. Meanwhile, further medical tests are performed and other factors such as the need for education, need for language training and residency status are determined.
Appointing a guardian
As a next step, a guardian is appointed for the unaccompanied minor. The decision about who will assume guardianship is taken by the family court. Guardianship lasts until the person reaches the age of majority, according to laws in the minor's country of origin and not according to German law. It means that if the minor does not attain the age of majority under this law until after 18 (as is the case in Togo where the age of majority is reached at 21), the guardianship also does not end until this time.
The subsequent clearing procedure includes clarifying the residency status. This is the basis on which a decision is made about whether an asylum application will be lodged. If an application is found to be weak, the immigration authority may issue a temporary suspension of deportation ("Duldung"). If this is not possible, the authorities will discuss what other possibilities are available.
If an asylum application is to be lodged, the Federal Office is responsible for the implementation of the asylum procedure.
The asylum application
German laws are applied when determining the age of majority in the asylum application. This means that once a person has reached the age of 18, an asylum seeker must lodge his or her own asylum application. This is regardless of the laws in their country of origin. The guardian can continue to assist the asylum seeker in this case.
If the application is lodged by a guardian, a "certificate of appointment" ("Bestallungsurkunde") needs to be provided.
Two unaccompanied minors during their "Inobhutnahme"
Two unaccompanied minors during their "Inobhutnahme"

The interview and the decision in the asylum procedure
Unaccompanied minors are regarded as vulnerable individuals. This ensures special guarantees for them in the asylum procedure. Their applications are evaluated by special commissioned officers, who are trained in taking a sensitive approach.
The interviews only take place with a guardian present. As well, an additional advisor can attend the interviews. The latter is permitted to make statements during the interview or address questions to the unaccompanied minor which are relevant to the asylum application.
Emphasis is also placed on determining whether there are indications of any child-specific grounds for fleeing. These may include genital mutilation, forced marriage, domestic violence, trafficking, or forced recruitment as a child soldier.
The decision is taken on the basis of the interview and the guardian is later notified of the decision.
Is the situation of unaccompanied children in Germany satisfactory?
The Program Manager at Save the Children in Germany, Desirée Weber, told InfoMigrants that the situation regarding unaccompanied children is not entirely satisfactory. "There are major protection gaps for this vulnerable group of children and numerous children's rights are violated," Weber said. She added that some children are never identified as unaccompanied minors and become victims of human trafficking, criminal groups or simply do not get the care they need. She believes that due to incorrect age determination, some of the children end up in large reception centers without any special protection.
Weber also said that her NGO is particularly concerned about the situation of family reunion in Germany. She also pointed out that it is a difficult to identify unaccompanied minors and there is no regulated procedure in place for the purpose. 
"Even a good system of identification cannot ensure that every child at risk could be identified," she added. Save the Children has also called for child-friendly and age-sensitive assessment tests to be conducted by trained staff, as the use of medical procedures can be very intrusive.


E-BOOK GRATIS

SCARICA GRATUITAMENTE LA GUIDA PRATICA
I Minori Stranieri non Accompagnati

Unaccompanied minor refugees in Germany: What you need to know

Unaccompanied minors traveling to Europe for protection pose a significant challenge to the authorities. InfoMigrants takes a closer look...



On 6 May 2017, a new legislation regarding the “Protection Measures for Unaccompanied Minors” (law n. 47/17) entered into force in Italy. It is the result of more than three years of advocacy efforts by Save the Children and other NGOs, that have hailed the approval of the so called Zampa law (proposed by Sandra Zampa, member of the Italian Parliament) as a historic moment for the protection of unaccompanied minors in Italy. At international level, UNICEF has commended the new law, indicating that it could serve as a model for other European countries. But is that really the case?



On the one hand, this law has filled significant gaps in the protection of unaccompanied children, introducing important provisions, for example on age assessment procedures. It also improved existing provisions, such as those regarding the legal status of non-asylum seeking unaccompanied minors. In these respects, Italian legislation may indeed be considered as a model at European level. On the other hand, there are serious concerns about the effective implementation of some of the new provisions, since this law establishes that they must be implemented with no additional costs for public finances. More importantly, it has not addressed the serious gaps in the reception system for unaccompanied minors, leading more and more children to be placed in absolutely inadequate reception centers.
Increasing arrivals, decreasing departures

The Italian reception system has been stretched by the dramatic increase in the number of unaccompanied minors arriving in Italy. Around 26.000 unaccompanied minorsarrived in Southern Italy in 2016, a number more than double compared to the previous year. On 30 April 2017, almost 16.000 unaccompanied children were registered as present in Italy, while more than 5.000 were reported missing. A significant share of these missing children leave the reception facilities and attempt to reach other European countries in order to join family members or seek better integration opportunities. Over the last few years, however, a large number of asylum seekers and migrants, including unaccompanied children, have been stopped at the French, Swiss, and Austrian borders and sent back to Italy: for example, in little over a month in Summer 2016, the Swiss authorities returned more than 600unaccompanied minors to Italy. As a result, those children have found their journeys unwillingly interrupted in Italy. Finally, very few unaccompanied children have been legally transferred from Italy to other EU States under the Dublin III Regulation and the relocation scheme (only one unaccompanied minor relocated as of April 2017).

The number of unaccompanied minors sent back to Italy will further increase significantly, if the proposal for a recast Dublin Regulation presently under discussion is approved. This proposal, which risks entailing serious child rights violations, provides that the unaccompanied minors who reach other EU Member States without being entitled to family reunification may be sent back to Italy as the country where they first lodged their asylum application or they first entered irregularly. Confronted with the increasing number of unaccompanied minors arriving and remaining in Italy, “while across Europe we have seen fences going up, children detained and pledges unmet, the Italian parliamentarians have shown their compassion and duty to young refugees and migrants” (UNICEF).
A law boosting protection

One of the most important provisions introduced by law n. 47/17 concerns age assessment procedures. More and more often Italian authorities require unaccompanied minors arriving in Italy with no identity documents to undergo age assessment, which is usually carried out with medical examination alone, generally an x-ray of the wrist and hand bones. The margin of error inherent in any age assessment methodology is hardly ever indicated in the results, so the benefit of the doubt cannot be applied. Many children are therefore wrongly identified as adults and have no access to the rights unaccompanied minors are entitled to: they are not placed in dedicated reception centers, they may get an expulsion order and be detained pending deportation, etc. Some cases have recently been brought to the European Court of Human Rights (Darboe and Camara v. Italy, application n. 5717/17).

In January 2017, a regulation on age assessment of child victims of trafficking came into force, providing detailed procedures and guarantees, largely consistent with international law and recommendations on age assessment. But this regulation is not applicable to unaccompanied minors who are not identified as victims of trafficking. The Zampa law has filled this serious gap, introducing important provisions on the age assessment of unaccompanied minors in general. It provides that a social and medical age assessment procedure may be ordered by the judicial authority, when there are well-founded doubts about the age declared by a presumed unaccompanied minor and it is impossible to establish his or her age through documentary evidence. The child must be informed about the objectives, methods and consequences of the age assessment and must be treated as a minor until the conclusion of the procedure. According to the law, age assessment procedures must be carried out with a multidisciplinary approach, by professionals with appropriate expertise, involving a cultural mediator. The result must indicate the margin of error and the benefit of the doubt must be granted to the child and in case the individual be considered a minor. The final decision on the individual’s age, adopted by the judicial authority, must be issued to both the person concerned and the guardian, thus allowing for an appeal. If these new provisions are implemented in practice, Italian age assessment procedures may really be considered as a model for other European Member States.

Another crucial element to ensure the protection of unaccompanied children’s rights is their swift access to the asylum procedure. Before the new law entered into force, unaccompanied children could lodge an asylum application only if it was confirmed by their guardian. Many of these children were therefore prevented from lodging an asylum application for a very long time, due to the delay in the appointment of a guardian. As pointed out by the EU Commission in the infringement proceedings n. 2014/2171, in fact a guardian is often appointed several months after the child’s arrival in Italy. The new law provides that, until a guardian is appointed, the legal representative of the reception center has the powers of the guardian, including in asylum procedures. This provision will substantially speed up the access of unaccompanied minors to the asylum procedure, which is crucial for the protection of these children, both those who decide to settle in Italy and those who wish to reach other EU States. To date, the delay in the access to the asylum procedure has significantly contributed to making the procedures for family reunification under the Dublin III Regulation extremely lengthy, up to one year. As a consequence, almost all the unaccompanied minors who are entitled to be legally transferred to another European Member State under the Dublin Regulation or the relocation scheme choose to cross EU internal borders irregularly rather than following the regular procedure. The Zampa law, allowing unaccompanied minors to submit an asylum application before the appointment of a guardian, may considerably reduce the length of the procedure for Dublin family reunification and relocations, thus opening the way for an increase in the legal transfers of unaccompanied minors to other EU States.

The new law also:

– simplifies the procedures for the issue of a residence permit “for minors” to non-asylum seeking unaccompanied minors and a residence permit for employment or study when they turn 18;

– provides that a list of “volunteer guardians” for unaccompanied minors, selected and trained by the Regional Ombudsperson for Children, be established by Juvenile Courts;

– forbids the return of unaccompanied children at the border;

– provides that “assisted and voluntary return” of unaccompanied minors may be decided by a Juvenile Court, when family reunification in the country of origin or a third country is in the child’s best interests, after listening to the child and guardian’s opinion and taking into consideration the results of social assessment of the family situation in the country of origin or third country and the situation of the child in Italy.
The gaps of the reception system: a missed opportunity

The Zampa law has also been commended for establishing a structured and streamlined national reception system, with minimum standards in all reception facilities. Actually, the new law has introduced extremely limited changes on this matter, not addressing the serious gaps in the existing reception system that make many unaccompanied minors be placed in inadequate reception centers or find themselves outside the protection system.

According to the legislative decree n. 142/15, as changed by law n. 47/17, unaccompanied minors may be placed in four different kinds of facilities. When an unaccompanied child arrives in Italy, he or she should be placed in a “governmental first reception center” for children, established by the Ministry of Interior, for the time needed for the identification and age assessment procedures. Within 30 days, the child should be transferred to a facility for unaccompanied children in the national Protection System Asylum Seekers and Refugees (SPRAR), managed by municipalities and funded by the Ministry of the Interior. The placement of unaccompanied minors in the governmental first reception centers and in the SPRAR facilities is decided by central offices in Rome, and should allow for a fair distribution of these children at national level.

If no places are available within either the governmental first reception centers or the SPRAR, the municipality where the child is present must place the minor in a children’s residential facility. The costs incurred by the municipality to accommodate the unaccompanied minor can be refunded by the Ministry of Interior up to 45 eurosper child per day. In emergency situations with sizeable arrivals, if the municipality is not able to provide reception, children aged over 14 years can be placed temporarily in “extraordinary reception centers” established by the prefectures.

In practice, this reception system has proven highly ineffective.

Firstly, the mechanism for redistribution at national level does not work properly. In December 2016, the governmental first reception centers had less than 1.000places and the SPRAR less than 2.000, a clearly insufficient number, given the presence in Italy of more than 17.000unaccompanied children at that date. Due to this lack of places, the responsibility of the reception of more than 80% of the unaccompanied minors in Italy is left to the municipalities or prefectures where the child is present.

As a result, the municipalities and prefectures in Southern Italy, where the migrants land after being rescued at sea, have to manage very high numbers of unaccompanied children, until they either turn 18 or decide to leave. On 30 April 2017, 38,5% of the unaccompanied children in Italy were accommodated in reception facilities in Sicily, while large and richer regions in Northern Italy such as Piedmont and Veneto together accommodated 5,2% of the total. This very unbalanced distribution seriously aggravates the emergency situation produced by the continuous and increasing arrivals of unaccompanied children in Sicily.

Secondly, most unaccompanied minors stay in first reception centers for long periods, frequently even up to the age of 18. Since reception in these facilities is intended to be temporary, they are not obliged to ensure integration programs such as school enrollment, vocational training, or employment support. Discriminatory standards are also applied as far as the maximum capacity of these centers is concerned: 30 to 50 instead of 8 to 12 places established for residential facilities for children deprived of parental care.

As reported by Oxfam, in many first reception centers managed by prefectures or municipalities in Sicily, even basic needs such as food, clothing, and bed linen are not covered while access to health care is very limited. The staff is usually inadequate in number, underpaid and lacking adequate training. Violence and conflicts among the children are very frequent. The deplorable conditions within these centers are one of the main reasons why so many unaccompanied children, including those not planning to reach other European countries, leave reception facilities and go missing.

Finally, due to the shortage of places in the dedicated reception centers, more and more unaccompanied minors are illegally placed in reception facilities for adults. In Darboe and Camara, the ECtHR is examining the case of two unaccompanied minors placed along with other numerous children in a reception center for adults for months. The center was severely overcrowded (over 1.400 persons placed in a facility designed for less than 550) and lacked adequate sanitation and heating, despite extremely cold outdoor temperatures. The children were forced to sleep near unrelated male adults and exposed to violence and risks of sexual abuse. The situation of hundreds of unaccompanied minors placed for many months in hotspots in similar conditions has also been denounced by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

The law n°47/17 has changed the provisions regarding the reception system for unaccompanied minors to a very limited extent:

a) It has reduced the maximum time a minor may spend in a “governmental first reception center” from 60 to 30 days. But the new law does not affect in any way the factors that make the transfer of these children very difficult, so they will probably remain in these centers for much longer periods, as before.

b) The Zampa law also provides that the capacity of the SPRAR must be commensurate with the effective presence of unaccompanied minors in Italy, within the limits of the resources of the National Fund for Asylum Policies and Services. But no changes are introduced to the mechanisms that in practice has limited the number of SPRAR places so far. These places, in fact, are activated upon a decision by the municipalities. Since most Italian municipalities are not willing to participate in the SPRAR system and the new law does not introduce duties or incentives to do so, their number places will probably remain highly insufficient compared to the number of unaccompanied minors present in Italy.

c) The law n°47/17 provides that SPRAR facilities must respect minimum standards established by legislation on residential facilities for children, which was already provided for by Ministerial decrees, but it does not change the discriminatory standards mentioned above for “governmental first reception centers” and “extraordinary reception centers”.

d) No mechanism aimed at a fair distribution of unaccompanied minors among regions, prefectures and municipalities is provided. As a consequence, Sicily will probably keep managing the reception of a disproportionate number of unaccompanied minors.

The new law does not address the above mentioned serious gaps in the Italian reception system for unaccompanied minors. As a consequence, many of these children will keep being denied the rights recognised by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as by EU and Italian legislation, such as the rights to special assistance and protection like children deprived of parental care, to adequate living conditions (including nutrition, clothing and housing), to education and health care, to protection from violence and abuse. In this respect, law n°47/17 is also a missed opportunity.

Autore: Elena Rozzi, ASGI

Articolo Originale:Eumigrationlawblog

Odysseus Network

E-BOOK GRATIS
SCARICA GRATUITAMENTE LA GUIDA PRATICA
I Minori Stranieri non Accompagnati

The new Italian law on unaccompanied minors: a model for the EU?

On 6 May 2017, a new legislation regarding the “Protection Measures for Unaccompanied Minors” ( law n. 47/17 ) entered int...

On 9 May 2017, the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland ruled on case KHO: 2017: 77on whether an applicant who reached the age of majority during the asylum proceedings ought to be considered an unaccompanied minor under the Dublin III Regulation. The applicant was under age when he was registered by the Bulgarian and Hungarian authorities and also when he later applied for asylum in Finland. The question was if, in a situation where an asylum seeker reaches the age of majority during the asylum procedure, his application ought to be assessed in Finland in accordance with Article 8(4) of the Dublin III Regulation (“[the] Member State responsible shall be that where the unaccompanied minor has lodged his or her application for international protection, provided that it is in the best interests of the minor”).

The Supreme Court considered that the phrasing of Article 8(4) of the Dublin III Regulation and the CJEU’s jurisprudence (e.g. MA and others (C-648/11)), required the date of an applicant’s submission for asylum to be the decisive date when applying the Dublin criteria. Therefore, asylum seekers who turn eighteen during the asylum proceedings are to be considered minors when applying the Dublin Regulation. Consequently, the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that Finland was the Member State responsible for assessing the asylum application.

E-BOOK GRATIS

SCARICA GRATUITAMENTE LA GUIDA PRATICA
I Minori Stranieri non Accompagnati


Finland Supreme Administrative Court: aged-out asylum seekers should be considered minors when applying the Dublin criteria

On 9 May 2017, the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland ruled on  case KHO: 2017: 77 on whether an applicant who reached t...
The European Union, Norway and Switzerland received nearly 66,000 asylum applications from unaccompanied minor migrants in 2016, a decline of nearly 40% from 2015’s record total but still well above the total of prior years, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of data from Eurostat, the EU’s statistical agency.

From 2008 to 2016, the EU, Norway and Switzerland received some 274,000 total asylum applications from unaccompanied minors, or those younger than 18 applying without a parent or guardian. (Data are not available before 2008.) The annual number of unaccompanied minor applications remained relatively flat from 2008 to 2013 before nearly doubling to 25,000 in 2014. During the refugee surge in 2015, European countries received more than 104,000 applications from unaccompanied minors seeking asylum. Counting all age groups, the EU, Norway and Switzerland received more than 4.8 million first-time asylum applications from 2008 to 2016, with unaccompanied minors representing almost 6% of the total.


The asylum application data in this analysis do not represent the total number of refugees who move to Europe in a given year. Applications may not equal the number of applicants because some people may apply in multiple countries. Some asylum seekers also may arrive in a year prior to when they file their application. In addition, many are not successfully granted refugee status and are not allowed to remain in Europe.

As in previous years, most unaccompanied minors who sought asylum in Europe in 2016 were older teenage males. In 2016, three-fifths of the applications by unaccompanied minors (62%) were from males ages 16 or 17, substantially higher than the 53% of the applications for the combined years of 2008 through 2015.

Eurostat reports the age of unaccompanied minors as determined by the country receiving the application, not necessarily what is reported by the applicant. Some officials have said some of these teenagers may actually be adults claiming to be a younger age to qualify for benefits for unaccompanied minors. In Sweden, the government has introduced biological tests such as dental exams to determine the age of those applying for asylum as unaccompanied minors.

In 2016, Afghanistan was the most common origin country for unaccompanied minors seeking asylum in the EU, Norway and Switzerland, with about 24,000 applications. The other top origins were Syria (about 12,000), Iraq (more than 4,000), Eritrea (between 3,000 and 4,000) and Somalia (about 3,000). From 2008 to 2016, Afghanistan accounted for more than 100,000 European asylum applications from unaccompanied minors, making it the single largest country of origin.

Germany received the most applications for asylum from unaccompanied minors in 2016, with nearly 36,000 (55% of all such applications received by the EU, Norway and Switzerland). Italy was second with more than 6,000.

The top receiving countries of unaccompanied minor asylum applications have changed over the years. Sweden, for example, accounted for about 3% of European unaccompanied minor applications in 2016, down from 34% in 2015. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom received just 5% of unaccompanied minor applications in 2016, down from 32% in 2008.

Statistics on the success rates of asylum applications by unaccompanied minors are not available from Eurostat. But among all asylum seekers to Europe, some of the highest success rates in 2016 were among Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis. By contrast, asylum seekers from the non-EU countries of Albania, Serbia and Kosovo have considerably lower success rates. In response to concerns about child migrants, the EU Commission recently encouraged member states to seek stronger protections for child migrants, particularly for unaccompanied minors. 

Autore: Phillip Connor

Asylum applications from unaccompanied minors fell sharply in Europe in 2016

The European Union, Norway and Switzerland received nearly 66,000 asylum applications from unaccompanied minor migrants in 2016, a declin...
Finché non ci saranno politiche unificate di tutela dei minori non accompagnati, questi bambini che migrano da soli saranno sempre a rischio di sfruttamento. Finalmente, anche l’Agenzia Europea per i dirittifondamentali - Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) ha affermato quanto sosteniamo da qualche tempo su questo blog.
Il report dell’Agenzia, redatto dalla ricercatrice Mónica Gutiérrez, afferma che il motivo principale del pericolo di sfruttamento di questi minori soli è la mancanza di coordinamento tra gli Stati membri, tra le città, le regioni, e anche i centri di accoglienza.
I MSNA, dice l’UNICEF, si affidano a trafficanti tramite il sistema "pay as you go", che li rende soggetti a sfruttamento e abusi, tra prostituzione, lavoro forzato, percosse e morte.
In particolare, rileva la Gutiérrez, molti minori non accompagnati una volta arrivati in Europa non sono informati o scarsamente informati sui loro diritti e/o su come segnalare abusi. Inoltre, i soggetti coinvolti nell’accoglienza non sono adeguatamente formati a individuare i segni di abuso sessuale, violenza e/o tratta.

Gutierrez termina la sua dissertazione dicendo che gli Stati membri devono lavorare all’attuazione di protocolli unificati, così da limitare lo sfruttamento.

Leonardo Cavaliere






E-BOOK GRATIS
SCARICA GRATUITAMENTE LA GUIDA PRATICA
I Minori Stranieri non Accompagnati

Minori non accompagnati a rischio sfruttamento per mancanza di coordinamento

Finché non ci saranno politiche unificate di tutela dei minori non accompagnati , questi bambini che migrano da soli saranno sempre a ris...
1 minore migrante su 3 sparito dopo lo smantellamento del campo di Calais. Ad affermarlo è il Refugee Youth Service che successivamente allo smantellamento non riusciva ad individuare un terzo dei 179 minori migranti sgomberati. "Siamo scoraggiati che ancora una volta i bambini, i più vulnerabili tra i rifugiati, sono scomparsi a seguito dello sgombero caotico a Calais. E 'particolarmente preoccupante che l'allarme non venga sollevato ",  ha detto il  co-fondatore di RYS, Josie Naughton.

After the demolition of the Calais ‘Jungle’ migrant camp, about a third of the children previously residing in the squalor who were being tracked by a UK charity have now reportedly gone missing.
The Refugee Youth Service (RYS) said,“a third of the 179 children tracked in October have gone missing after the eviction of the ‘jungle’.”
https://twitter.com/HelpRefugeesUK/status/801489854123143168
“We are disheartened that once again children, the most vulnerable of refugees, have gone missing following the chaotic eviction in Calais. It is particularly worrying that alarm bells are not being raised,” said Refugee Youth Service co-founder Josie Naughton.
After the camp which, according to some estimates, housed over 10,000 migrants was demolished following fierce clashes between migrants and police, many unaccompanied children had no place to go. Some minors were reportedly even used to pick fruit at a local farm, just to survive, the Safe Passage UK program previously said.
The rest of the refugees, including some 1,500 children, have been transferred to accommodation centers throughout France when the jungle was demolished on October 24-26. A number of unaccompanied children left the camp for the United Kingdom.
“This has led to worries that these missing children will, instead of turning to state services, be preyed upon by traffickers and smugglers,” the charity said.
To get to the UK, which lies just across the English Channel, minors must have relatives already living in the UK. Under this scheme, Britain has already agreed to take in around 1,000 migrant children before the Christmas holidays.
Another legal way for unaccompanied minors to get into the United Kingdom is to seek sanctuary under the so-called Dubs amendment to the Immigration Act.
“Both governments need to start to take responsibility for minors and provide them with adequate safeguarding to ensure they are properly protected and uphold their responsibilities according to the UN convention on the rights of a child,” Naughton said.
Thousands of migrants looking to cross the English Channel to find asylum in the UK were holed up on the Calais border for months. The majority of people came from the Middle East and Africa and resided in horrific conditions infested by rats and dominated by water contamination and disease.
There were also reports of violence inside and outside the camp. Frustrated with the situation, migrants from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Sudan and Senegal, regularly attacked lorries and clashed with police as they tried to make it across the English Channel.
Unable to crack down on violence, French authorities went ahead to evacuate some 6,400 migrants from the encampment in 170 buses, starting on 24 October 2016. After fierce clashes, the authorities declared the jungle cleared on 26 October 2016. (Fonte RT)

E-BOOK GRATIS
SCARICA GRATUITAMENTE LA GUIDA PRATICA
I Minori Stranieri non Accompagnati

1 minore migrante su 3 sparito dopo lo smantellamento del campo di Calais

1 minore migrante su 3 sparito dopo lo smantellamento del campo di Calais. Ad affermarlo è il Refugee Youth Service che successivamente al...
Importante Charity sta per intraprendere un’ azione legale contro Ministero degli Interni Inglese per il mancato accoglimento dei minori non accompagnati aventi diritto al ricollocamento e presenti nella Jungle di Calais.
L'azione legale diventa necessaria a seguito dell’annunciato smantellamento del campo dall’autorità francesi e dalle preoccupazioni per la mancanza di alternative per i profughi che vivono nel campo.
Di seguito l'articolo dell'Independent.

A leading refugee charity is mounting a legal challenge against the Home Office for failing to meet its commitment to provide sanctuary for unaccompanied child refugees.

Help Refugees argues that the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, has breached her relocation duties by wrongly applying or interpreting May’s Immigration Act.

Almost 90,000 child refugees who arrived in Europe last year were alone, according to official European statistics. The most common country they were fleeing was Syria, followed by Afghanistan and then Iraq.

The charity has provided legal papers alleging that it is “incontestable” the unaccompanied minors the legislation is intended to help “are exposed to serious risks of abuse and exploitation”, The Guardian reported.

Help Refugees' legal action could prompt a judicial review of the Home Office's actions.

The Dubs amendment to the Immigration Act in May stipulated that lone child refugees registered in France, Italy or Greece before 20 March could be resettled in the UK.

As part of the amendment, the Government pledged it would “make arrangements to relocate to the UK” a number of unaccompanied children “as soon as possible”.

Yet, several months on, it appears few children - if any - have been relocated under its provisions.

The legal action against the Home Office comes amid concern for the unaccompanied children currently living in the Calais refugee camp.

French authorities estimate there are 7,000 refugees and migrants living in the so-called Jungle camp, but charities on the ground say the figure exceeds 10,000. Among them are an estimated 400 unaccompanied children.

President Francois Hollande has vowed to clear the camp. He is under pressure to mitigate the rising tide of anti-refugee feeling and Islamophobia ahead of the upcoming French presidential election.

Yet the head of France’s human rights watchdog has indicated the demolition will start as soon as 17 October, intensifying fears about the fate of the children currently living in the camp alone.

Last time the camp was demolished, 129 unaccompanied minors from the camp disappeared.

While charity leaders acknowledge Jungle camp is not fit for human habitation, they fear for those who live there if it is demolished.



Josie Naughton, co-founder of Help Refugees, told The Guardian: “We absolutely think that the camp shouldn’t be there and no human being should live in those conditions, but we need to make sure that the French keep their word so that proper alternative accommodation is provided and that the eviction is carried out as humanely as possible.”Jacques Toubon, the former French minister of justice, has written a letter to the Interior Minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, urging him to establish arrangements for unaccompanied children after the camp is razed.

According to Help Refugees, the Home Office currently has the paperwork for 387 children currently in the Calais refugee camps who have the right to be in the UK – either international law or the Dubs agreement.

Many of those in the Calais camp have relatives in the UK but have found the process to claim their legal right to asylum in the UK slow.

The Government has come under intense criticism after a 14-year-old Afghan boy who had a legal right to asylum in Britain was killed on a French motorway while trying to reach the UK.

The UK's new anti-slavery commissioner warned in September the slow pace of Brtiains efforts to give sanctuary to unaccompanied child refugees in Calais was exposeig them to the risk of modern slavery and exploitation.

E-BOOK GRATIS

Charity launches legal action against Home Office over failure to accept unaccompanied child refugees

Importante Charity sta per intraprendere un’ azione legale contro Ministero degli Interni Inglese per il mancato accoglimento dei minori...
UNICEF UK ha chiesto al governo del Regno Unito di permettere ai minori non accompagnati attualmente bloccati nella Jungle di Calais di potersi ricongiungere con i propri familiare o di poter entrare in Inghilterra in maniera legale. Inoltre, tutte le organizzazioni umanitarie operanti nel campo di Calais denunciano episodi di autolesionismo e depressione tra i bambini che aumentano con il prossimo smantellamento del sito. Abdul Afzali, che lavora per Refugee Youth Service e si prende cura dei minori non accompagnati all'interno del campo di Calais, ha dichiarato: "Alcuni si stanno bruciando con le sigarette, un braccio, poi l'altro. Altri mi hanno detto che vogliono saltare davanti a un camion e rinunciare. Purtroppo, la maggior parte hanno sviluppato grave depressione. "
Di seguito gli articoli tratti dall'Independent e dal Guardian

Child refugees at Calais plunged into despair by plan to close camp
Incidents of self-harm and depression among children in the Calais refugee camp are increasing as the mental health of unaccompanied minors deteriorates in advance of the site’s demolition. Charities, volunteers and aid agencies say they were witnessing psychological collapse among many of the site’s child refugees after President François Hollande confirmed last week that the camp would be shut down.
One senior official from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warned that some child refugees had threatened to harm themselves if the camp was destroyed. Aid workers also said other unaccompanied minors, many of whom are eligible to claim asylum in the UK, had talked about killing themselves, such was their despair over the camp’s future.
Abdul Afzali, who works for the charity Refugee Youth Service and looks after unaccompanied minors inside the Calais camp, said: “Some are burning themselves with cigarettes, one arm, then the other. Others have told me that they want to jump in front of a lorry and give up. Unfortunately, most have developed serious depression.”
There are at least 1,000 unaccompanied minors currently in the camp, and the British and French authorities have yet to develop a strategy to rehouse the vast majority of them after the site is destroyed later this year.
The approach of the Home Office is under increasing scrutiny. Despite a commitment in May to take thousands of child refugees from across Europe, it has admitted that not a single unaccompanied minor has been accepted. A group of Tory MPs is understood to have written to the prime minister, Theresa May, to register their concern.
Under a separate agreement designed to reunite child refugees with families living in the UK, only around 20 have been resettled since May and in these cases, charities say they have paid all the costs involved. The Home Office says it is committed to resettling “vulnerable children”.
Within the Calais camp itself, Liz Clegg, who runs the site’s unofficial women and children’s centre, said that from her observations, as many as 80% of the site’s unaccompanied minors exhibited mental health issues that would be flagged up as serious in an institution where normal child protection safeguards existed.
“They would be flagged up as ‘at risk’ – some would be placed on suicide watch. There is self-harming, repetitive behaviour; many of them are stuck in a loop. We have nine-year-olds who are barely hanging on,” said Clegg.
Grégoire Bonhomme of MSF, which has created a safe space for child refugees within the camp, said he too had heard of children threatening to hurt themselves when the camp was demolished. “Some said they will harm themselves because they will be dismayed at this situation. It is creating a lot of tension.”
However, Bonhomme also said that there was also a refusal among a cohort of child refugees to believe that the camp, which currently has a record population of more than 10,000, would be demolished. He said: “Many of them say: ‘It won’t happen, no one will arrest us, and if we want to go we’ll find a way [to the UK].’”Alexander Simmons, a volunteer for charity Care4Calais, confirmed it was monitoring “quite critical mental health issues” among a number of child refugees in the camp and that the longer they spent in the camp, the more vulnerable they became. He also lamented the fact that there was no record of the extent of the problem. The camp is not officially recognised by the authorities and no official mental health assessments have been conducted among its children.
Mary Jones, who runs Jungle Books for the camp’s child refugees, revealed that she had repeatedly seen new arrivals gradually go from initial optimism to a depressed state; some youngsters lay in bed for days. Simmons said that on Thursday an Afghan boy was taken from the camp to hospital after spending 48 hours lying in bed, unable to move.
On Saturday the charity Unicef became the latest organisation to criticise the Home Office over its approach to unaccompanied child refugees, demanding that the UK accelerate the transfer of vulnerable youngsters from Calais. Lily Caprani, Unicef UK’s deputy executive director, said it was pushing for the children in the camp to be placed in appropriate accommodation before any demolition began and for them to have access to care and legal support to process their asylum and family reunion claims. “The children in Calais need to know they will be safe before the bulldozers arrive,” said Caprani.
Charities estimate there are more than 400 unaccompanied children inside the camp who are eligible to come to Britain, but say the Home Office has not sufficiently tried to identify the exact number. More than four months after the UK government announced that it would accept child refugees from across Europe, the charities point out, no official process appears to have even been put in place to facilitate their transfer.
Josie Naughton, co-founder of the charity Help Refugees, said: “Currently no plan is in place as to how they will be protected and taken care of once the camp is demolished. We ask that the British and French authorities immediately put plans in place.”
Also on Saturday, French police fired teargas and water cannon at migrants and protesters who had gathered outside the camp in defiance of a ban, local authorities said. About 200 migrants and 50 activists assembled under a bridge to protest against living conditions. There were clashes as the police pushed the migrants back to the camp, and activists are reported to have thrown stones at the security forces.
Another 150 protesters who left Paris on Saturday on four coaches were blocked by police at a toll road about 30 miles (48 km) short of the port.
Teenage voices from Calais: ‘There is too much fighting’
Idrissa, 17, from Darfur, SudanIdrissa has been in the camp since February and is hoping to be reunited with his uncle in Birmingham. Since leaving Darfur last year, he has lost contact with his entire family and has no idea where they are, or even if they are alive: “I have tried calling, but I have no idea what has happened to them.” The teenager’s only ambition is to reach the UK. Waiting in the Calais camp has been a grim and depressing experience. “There is too much violence here. We feel afraid,” he says, gesturing to a group of unaccompanied youngsters nearby.
Yemani, 15, from Tsorona, EritreaYemani has been in the Calais camp for three months and is hoping to be reunited with his aunt, who lives in London. He is travelling alone and says that life inside the camp scares him: “There is too much fighting, people hitting each other. Bigger people than me hit me.” The teenager also says that the French police terrify him, pointing to a used teargas canister lying in the dirt outside a tent where some of the unaccompanied minors gather.
“They hit us, and fire at us,” he says, rubbing his eyes to mimic the pain.
Fadl, 17, from western SudanFadl arrived in the Calais camp four weeks ago, the end of a journey from close to the Darfur border via Libya, across the Mediterranean and through Italy. His aim is to reach London and find a job as a mechanic. He says that he is petrified of the camp, especially at night, and has sought the protection of Sudanese elders to keep him safe. “There are big problems here, people fighting, coming to the tents and scaring us,” he says. He thanks the charities for providing sustenance and says he is “extremely grateful” for their kindness.
Mubarek, 16, from EthiopiaA member of the persecuted Oromo people, Mubarek, who arrived in Calais three months ago, says his family are counting on him making it to the UK. Like many unaccompanied minors, he felt unsafe in the camp. “It is dangerous. Also, the police come in and scare us. If they try and shut the camp, they will be very bad,” he said. Mubarek raises his his hands and waves them frantically, recalling the terrors of his journey from northern Ethiopia: “I try not to think about it,” he says. The Guardian - Mark Townsend and agencies


Unicef urges UK government to speed up transfer of unaccompanied child refugees as Calais camp closes
Unicef has called on the UK government to allow unaccompanied child refugees currently stranded in the Calais migrant camp to come to Britain.
The organisation said it was concerned about the planned closure of the camp, known as the 'Jungle', saying it may lead to children disappearing before they can be processed.
Charities estimate there are around 400 unaccompanied children living there who are eligible to come to Britain.
Lily Caprani, the deputy executive director of Unicef UK, the UN body’s charitable arm in the country, told the BBC: "Last time part of the Jungle camp was demolished, hundreds of children went missing. We don't know what happened to them."
Despite this French President Francois Hollandevowed to have cleared the camp by the end of the year during a visit to the Jungle on Monday.All of the camp’s estimated 10,000 residents will be forced to move to reception centres across the country.
Mr Hollande is under intense pressure to mitigate the rising tide of anti-refugee feeling and Islamophobia ahead of the French presidential election next year.Far-right leader Marine Le Pen looks poised to at least make the run-off to become president and has vowed to stop France accepting anymore refugees.
The UK Government has also come under increasing pressure to take in the unaccompanied children.
On the first anniversary of the death of Aylan Kurdi, a three-year-old Syrian boy who was found dead on a Turkish beach, last month, migrant rights charity Citizens UK handed in a letter signed by several celebrities including Juliet Stevenson and Vanessa Redgrave calling on Home Secretary Amber Rudd to accept them.
Fewer than 20 children were granted asylum in the UK in the first three months of the year.Lord Alfred Dubs, the peer who helped force the Government to accept an amendment to the Immigration Act which requires the UK to accept lone minors, said “deeply saddened” the Government was still “dragging its feet”.
Lord Dubs, who was himself a child refugee who came to the UK during the Kindertransport in 1939, said: “Now that the new Government has had some weeks to settle in after the EU referendum vote there really is no excuse for any further delay. Theresa May and Amber Rudd should be taking immediate action.”
Unicef is concerned that the children may fall into the hands of traffickers who may exploit them.
In September, The Independent revealed the Home Office does not know where 360 of the vulnerable children who have already arrived in the UK are. Of these, 81 have been missing for more than five years.
Over the past five years, 9,287 “unaccompanied minor” asylum seekers have been arrived in the UK.
A spokesman for the Home Office told The Independent the Government remained committed to resettling “vulnerable children” but said the closure of the camp was “a matter for the French government”.
He said: “The UK Government has made crystal clear its commitment to resettle vulnerable children under the Immigration Act and ensure those with links to the UK are brought here using the Dublin Regulation.
“We will also continue to support the French Government as it provides alternative accommodation to migrants in the camps and returns those not in need of protection to their home countries. The Independent Caroline Mortimer

Unicef urges UK government to speed up transfer of unaccompanied child refugees as Calais camp closes

UNICEF UK ha chiesto al governo del Regno Unito di permettere ai minori non accompagnati attualmente bloccati nella Jungle di Calais di po...
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

 

Minori Stranieri Non Accompagnati © 2015 - Designed by Templateism.com, Plugins By MyBloggerLab.com