The Mediterranean route: A dream for a better life destroyed by human trafficking

Posted on Posted in Children's Rights, Explotation, Freedom, Human Rights, Migration, refugees

Children represent 27% of global human trafficking victims. This issue particularly affects girls, who account for two-thirds of the victims of this serious crime, which has a drastic impact on the lives of thousands of children (Save the Children, 2021). Trafficking rings have easily spotted the opportunities for bringing in new victims that migration routes […]

Day of General Discussion 2021: children’s rights and alternative care

Posted on Posted in Children's Rights, Migration, refugees

On the 16th and 17th of September, during the 88th session of the United Nations, the Committee on the Rights of the Child hosted a Day of General Discussion on Children’s Rights and Alternative Care. Broadly, all children have the right to live in a protective, supporting and caring home which enables healthy development (Council […]

A cry for help: the repatriation of foreign children in North East Syria

Posted on Posted in Children's Rights, Migration, refugees

For over a decade, Syria has been marred by civil war. This conflict – overwhelmingly tied to territorial battles between supporters of President Al-Assad, opposing rebels and Islamic State (ISIS) actors – has had debilitating effects on the lives of vulnerable children who are the offspring of foreign ISIS fighters.  Specifically, in 2019, the U.S.-backed […]

An alarming rise in child marriage among Syrian refugees in Lebanon

Posted on Posted in Child Marriage, Children's Rights, Explotation, Freedom, Human Rights, Migration, Poverty, refugees

The Covid-19 pandemic, coupled with the refugee and economic crisis in Lebanon has led to a staggering increase in child marriages amongst Syrian refugees in the country, where the rate of child marriage has increased four folds since the Syrian conflict began (Monla-Hassan & Yacoubian, 2020). While child marriage is a global issue, there are various country-specific […]

Age-assessment of migrant children

Posted on Posted in Children's Rights, Freedom, Health, Migration, refugees

In the past decade, migration and external displacement have become realities an increasing number of children face. Additionally, migrant children are one of the most vulnerable population groups and the inability to provide documentation confirming their age and status exacerbates this vulnerability.  Age disputes caused by increased suspicion and scepticism surrounding the arrival of migrant […]

The separation of migrant children from their families at the US-Mexico border

Posted on Posted in Children's Rights, Citizenship, Freedom, Human Rights, Migration, refugees

Every child has a right to safety and protection, regardless of where they come from or where they are going. This right, however, is not always upheld, and this is particularly visible when looking at the current migrant crisis at the US-Mexico border. Unaccompanied migrant children are being separated from their families, which has devastating […]

Children in Border and Asylum Procedures: Push Backs of Migrant Children at the Border

Posted on Posted in Children's Rights, Citizenship, Freedom, Human Rights, Migration, refugees

A lack of provisions regarding the issues of invisibility of children in asylum-procedures and the adult-focus of the migratory framework often results in the lack of protection of this, especially vulnerable group. At the Moroccan-Spanish border in Melilla and Ceuta this is particularly visible in the implemented push-back procedure of migrant children and other asylum […]

Children in Border and Asylum Procedures: “The Best Interest of the Child” Principle in Migration

Posted on Posted in Children's Rights, Freedom, Health, Migration, refugees

Children in the displacement cycle experience the significant issues of invisibility in asylum procedures and the adult-focus of the migratory framework. In his research on “The Child in International Refugee Law”, Jason Pobjoy applies a three-folded principle of “the best interest of the child” to the context of migration – as an independent source of […]

Children in Border and Asylum Procedures: Invisibility and Adult-Focus

Posted on Posted in Children's Rights, Freedom, Human Rights, Migration, refugees, violence

Children in border and asylum procedure face two significant issues (Pobjoy, 2017). On one hand, a child is still considered invisible in migration procedures, and on the other, an adult-focused legal framework is applied to children in these procedures. These shortcomings place migrant children not only at risk of rejection and deportation without having their […]

Protective Custody of Unaccompanied Child Migrants in Greece: A Long-Standing Practice is Coming to an End

Posted on Posted in Children's Rights, Explotation, Freedom, Migration

As announced on 18 November 2020 by Notis Mitarachi, Greek Migration and Asylum Minister, Greece is abolishing the long-standing scheme of protective custody of unaccompanied child migrants. This practice is not only endangering the physical and mental well-being of children, but it also violates international, European and Greek domestic law in relation to the rights […]