CHILD PROTECTION IN THE CONTEXT OF MIGRATION

A) Objectives of the pledge:

Goal 7 of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, letters e) and f), provides for legislative, administrative and judicial formulas and determinations, as well as a framework for cross-border collaboration, aimed at ensuring the safety of migrant children; as well as special mechanisms to protect unaccompanied minors during the different stages of migratory regularisation, with a view to reuniting them with their families (Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, 2018: 16-17).

In the same line, Goal 12 (c) prescribes the establishment of child-sensitive referral mechanisms, considering standardised operational formulas, in accordance with local authorities, national human rights institutions, international organisations and civil society. In addition, the next letter calls for “ensuring that migrant children are identified as early as possible, at the point of arrival in countries of transit and destination” (Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, 2018).

Furthermore, the Communication from the European Commission to the European Parliament and the Council of Europe, building on EU initiatives taken to address migration challenges (including the specific additional safeguards proposed in the context of the reform of EU asylum legislation 11 , the Action Plan on Integration 12 and the Commission Recommendation on Return 13 accompanying the new Action Plan on Return 14 ), propose a series of coordinated and effective measures to respond to the urgent protection gaps and needs of children in migration processes once they arrive in Europe. We are talking about identification, reception or application of procedural safeguards up to the implementation of durable solutions.

The Communication from the European Commission also states that there is room for strengthening cross-cutting measures at all stages of the migration process, such as better and more targeted use of EU financial support, improved data collection on migrant children, and training for all those working with children and teenagers of migrant origin.  These measures would be implemented in synergy with those adopted by the European Union to protect children involved in migration processes worldwide, including in countries of origin and transit.

Likewise, according to the Commission, it is necessary to guarantee comprehensive mental health care for children and teenagers, and their adult reference persons, which attends to the needs derived from their exposure to traumatic situations in the migratory journey: loss of loved ones, child abuse, sexual or gender-based violence, etc.

It should also be recalled that, among other issues, in 2018, the Committee on the Rights of the Child in its Concluding Observations urged to ensure appropriate reception centres in maritime arrival areas, equipped with specialised legal assistance, trained interpreters and child-friendly services, and to expedite the processing and transfer of asylum-seeking children and their families.

Finally, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement’s Migration Strategy aims to strengthen the provision of protection services to migrants, regardless of their legal status. This includes the provision of services to help them maintain or re-establish family links (including in detention centres) and access to legal advice, counselling and safe spaces (particularly for children and women). The Movement can also provide specialized services to, among others, survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, torture and trafficking, unaccompanied and separated children, and families of missing migrants.

Therefore, the aim of this pledge is to:

Support the authorities in actions to protect minors along migratory routes, in which the principle of the best interests of the child prevails.

B) Action plan:

1. In complementarity with the competent public entities in the State, maximise the use of tools to assess the needs and detect the specific vulnerabilities of minors.
2. Support the work of publicly owned child protection services in the foster care and integration system.
3. Implement actions aimed at protecting migrant minors in situations of discrimination.
4. Participate in the process of implementing legislative changes, so that these changes respect existing protection guarantees and the best interests of children and teen agers.

C) Indicators for measuring progress:

• Actions to support the reception and integration of minors and their families, in the case of the absence of adults who, by law or custom, represent them, as well as those who end guardianships once they come on age.
• Actions for the protection of children and teenagers in situations of ethnic or race discrimination.
• Contributions to civil society organizations forums on legislative changes.

D) Resource implications:

A specialised team will be put in place to monitor and report on the pledge. Likewise, for the fulfilment of the indicators, appropriate financial resources will be made available.