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Opinion | Doc. 12558 | 05 April 2011
Unaccompanied children in Europe: issues of arrival, stay and return
Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee
A. Conclusions of the committee
(open)1. The Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee of
the Parliamentary Assembly welcomes and supports the draft resolution
and draft recommendation presented by the Committee on Migration,
Refugees and Population and prepared by Ms Mailis Reps (Estonia,
ALDE). The report highlights the special situation of unaccompanied
children in Europe and underlines the need for committed and co-ordinated
action aimed at protecting, supporting and finding durable solutions
for them. The draft resolution in particular is a very complete
piece of work, which follows a systematic approach and establishes
15 common principles that represent an important step towards further
political action. Such further action should, in particular, consist
of committed implementation of existing strategies, such as the
European Union Action Plan on Unaccompanied Minors, but also of
developing more far-reaching common standards for all Council of
Europe member states.
2. Despite its general support for the texts proposed to the
Assembly, the committee wishes to present a few amendments to the
draft resolution and draft recommendation. These are aimed at setting
these texts into the context of previous work of the Parliamentary
Assembly, to insist more strongly on the aspect of prevention as
well as on the reinforcement of child protection mechanisms in the
children’s home countries, and to emphasise some of the social implications
that deserve being referred to in more detail.
B. Proposed amendments
(open)to the draft resolution
to the draft recommendation
Amendment A (to the draft resolution)
In the draft resolution, after paragraph 3, insert the following paragraph:
“The Assembly insists on the importance of prevention strategies in the context of international migration. Action aimed at supporting certain countries, member states of the Council of Europe or others, in reinforcing social cohesion and in generating an environment allowing children to grow up in their home countries with a respectable quality of life and good perspectives for their personal development, should be included in the political agendas of all Council of Europe member states. In this context, the Assembly draws attention to its Resolution 1779 (2010) on co-operation between the Council of Europe and the Maghreb countries in the field of social cohesion, in which the Assembly suggested that non-member states of the Council of Europe, such as the Maghreb countries, be supported in their policies aimed at developing social cohesion, democratic structures and ensuring the full protection of human rights.”
Amendment B (to the draft resolution)
In the draft resolution, at the end of paragraph 5.11, add the following sentence:
“Administrative and judicial procedures within member states should be conceived and applied in a child friendly manner, according to the Guidelines of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on child friendly justice adopted in November 2010, thus also applying the rules set out by this tool to unaccompanied children.”
Amendment C (to the draft resolution)
In the draft resolution, at the end of paragraph 5.13, add the following text:
“Moreover, unaccompanied children should be able to benefit from comprehensive programmes of child welfare. These should, where necessary, take into consideration their emotional needs following traumatic experiences and should, beyond the immediate psychological assistance to be provided (see paragraph 5.6), comprise measures such as targeted educational assistance, placement in foster families or specialised residential care, or integration assistance for children with disabilities.”
Amendment D (to the draft recommendation)
In the draft recommendation, at the end of paragraph 4.3, add the following words:
“taking the format of a new recommendation by the Committee of Ministers;”.
Amendment E (to the draft recommendation)
In the draft recommendation, paragraph 4.4, after the words “the transversal project ‘Building a Europe for and with children’“, insert the following words:
“under its current strategy 2009-2011 and into any future activities undertaken within the framework of this programme;”.
Amendment F (to the draft recommendation)
In the draft recommendation, at the end of paragraph 4.5, add the following words:
“and, in the context of ongoing reform processes, ensure that the fate of unaccompanied children is sufficiently taken into account by future intergovernmental action of the Council of Europe;”.
C. Explanatory memorandum by Ms Coleiro Preca, rapporteur for opinion
(open)1. The issue of unaccompanied children has been covered
extensively by the European Commission and European Council in recent
years, notably through their Action Plan on Unaccompanied Minors
and related texts. These can be considered as the excellent results
of a comprehensive work process and certainly merit the attention
of all European countries, thus all Council of Europe member states,
whether they are members of the European Union or not.
2. However, the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population
rightly points out in its report that the European Union Action
Plan leaves gaps with regard to the full protection of unaccompanied
minors who belong to the most vulnerable groups of people arriving
in our societies. It is suggested that the Parliamentary Assembly
should draw member states’ attention to these gaps and also ask
the Committee of Ministers to take relevant action. With regard
to such arguments, the Assembly is backed up by the positions taken
earlier by various non-governmental organisations, such as Human
Rights Watch which – in commenting on the European Union Justice
and Home Affairs Council conclusions – pointed out that these statements
focus too much on how to send minors back to their countries of
origin and too little on how to guarantee their safety. 
3. I therefore fully support the draft resolution and draft recommendation
proposed by my colleague and would in particular like to congratulate
her for having developed such a systematic approach to the issue including
15 guiding principles that could become a central reference for
co-ordinated European action in the future and thus intelligently
complete the European Union Action Plan.
4. I nevertheless propose a few amendments to the draft resolution
and draft recommendation: Amendment Ato
the draft resolution refers to work previously accomplished by the
Parliamentary Assembly and the Council of Europe in general, notably
on the issue of support to be given to non-member states of the Council
of Europe for their social and economic development, the development
of democratic structures and the full protection of human rights.
The interdependencies between Council of Europe member states and
with third countries are numerous, which generates a reciprocal
responsibility also comprising the future fate of children who are
among the most vulnerable members of our societies. The mass arrival
of immigrants from crisis-shaken Libya on the small Italian island
of Lampedusa at the beginning of 2011 once again illustrates the responsibility
that European countries have to support neighbouring regions in
their development as well as the need to act in a cohesive manner
when it comes to dealing with numerous refugees and to finding durable solutions
for them.
5. Compared to some of the other “common principles” proposed,
the ones described under paragraphs 5.11 and 5.13 are very succinct;
the social services and measures aimed at the protection and support
of unaccompanied minors certainly merit more attention. Many countries
have already undertaken detailed studies about the particular difficulties
encountered by unaccompanied minors and suggested comprehensive action
plans. At the Council
of Europe, recent work has led to the Guidelines of the Committee
of Ministers of the Council of Europe on child-friendly justice,
adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 17 November 2010 (1098th
meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies). Further work is currently under
way on child and youth participation and on child-friendly social
services with a view to preparing draft recommendations of the Committee
of Ministers for the end of 2011. Amendments B and C are therefore
aimed at raising the draft resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly
to the level of existing expertise and at inviting all countries
concerned to strengthen their co-operation and exchange of best
practice in this field.
At the Council
of Europe, recent work has led to the Guidelines of the Committee
of Ministers of the Council of Europe on child-friendly justice,
adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 17 November 2010 (1098th
meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies). Further work is currently under
way on child and youth participation and on child-friendly social
services with a view to preparing draft recommendations of the Committee
of Ministers for the end of 2011. Amendments B and C are therefore
aimed at raising the draft resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly
to the level of existing expertise and at inviting all countries
concerned to strengthen their co-operation and exchange of best
practice in this field. 6. In 2006, my own country, Malta, was urged by the United Nations
Committee on the Rights of the Child to revise its practice of detaining
unaccompanied children and minors in some cases, although at the
same time the efforts undertaken to offer better shelter and services
to unaccompanied asylum seekers under 18 in a special residence
called “Dar is-Sliem” in B’Kara were recognised. However,
the efforts in favour of unaccompanied minors need to be pursued
by all our countries, which is why more exchanges of best practice should
be organised within the Council of Europe with a view to preparing
the future guidelines to be developed in close collaboration with
other organisations.
However,
the efforts in favour of unaccompanied minors need to be pursued
by all our countries, which is why more exchanges of best practice should
be organised within the Council of Europe with a view to preparing
the future guidelines to be developed in close collaboration with
other organisations.7. The intention of Amendments D, E and F to the draft recommendation
is to strengthen the message to be sent to the Committee of Ministers.
This is done by completing the text proposed by the Committee on Migration,
Refugees and Population with a stronger reference made to future
action of the Council of Europe and beyond ongoing activities under
the programme “Building a Europe for and with children”, the current strategy
of which (2009-2011) does not explicitly mention the issue of unaccompanied
minors and, in fact, will soon come to an end.