In its new report ‘Protecting undocumented children: promising policies and practices from governments’, our partner PICUM gathers together several examples of promising practices by various levels of governments in the areas of education, health care, protection from violence, and non-detention, alongside some available data and relevant policy documents at EU level.
Despite a legal framework establishing that all children must enjoy equal protection regardless of their or their parent’s administrative status, undocumented children are subject to daily and systematic rights violations. Throughout Europe, children are being apprehended, detained and deported, and denied basic services, protection and justice in the name of migration control. Within this general context, the situation is more complex; there are numerous examples of local, regional and national governments developing legislation and implementing measures to meet their legal obligations to children, and policy objectives in relation to education, health, rule of law, justice, development, social inclusion and social cohesion.
By highlighting several promising laws, policies and practice, as well as tools at EU level, this report seeks to disseminate such policies, and support governments, and stakeholders working with them, to enact positive reforms to promote the well-being and development of every child residing in the European Union.