children s rights

• European Union

According to a UNHCR study, underage refugees are missing out on years of schooling beyond the standard elementary level. This results in longterm problems such as poorer job prospects.

• France

In France a biometric system is increasingly being used to register young migrants who want to be recognized as unaccompanied minors. Aid groups worry this will result in more young minors being sent directly to detention centers and inaccurate assessments.

• Italy

UNICEF is calling on Italy to reform its citizenship rules. The UN children's agency demands a birthright law (also known as "Jus soli"), which would grant Italian citizenship to children from migrant and refugee families.

• Spain

A new law passed by the Spanish parliament prohibits stripping migrants under age 18 to ascertain their age, a method that the UN has said violates the migrants' dignity. The law will come into force in June.

• France

Various associations in France have turned to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to call for an investigation into the treatment of foreign unaccompanied minors in the country, who they claim are victims of "serious and systematic violations" of their rights as minors.

• France

The strict COVID-19 lockdown measures imposed in France in March last year hit migrant minors awaiting recognition of their status ten times as hard as the normal population, says a new report from several NGOS, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

• France

In January, the French state secretary for children and families announced a future "ban on the placement of children in hotels". The vast majority of young people placed in hotels by the child welfare agency are unaccompanied foreign minors. Fatima*, now an adult, remembers her time being moved from hotel to hotel. This is her story.

• Netherlands

The rights of a 10-year-old boy were denied when the Netherlands failed to acknowledge that he was stateless and eligible for international protection, a UN committee has found. It is the first such decision on the right of children to acquire nationality.

• Greece

A six-episode documentary attempts to give a voice to migrants under the age of 18 in Greece who have witnessed one of the worst humanitarian crises of our time. The web series, named "Through Our Eyes," is sponsored by the NGO Still I Rise.

• Italy

A court in Italy has ruled that it is discriminatory to exclude foreigners without a long-term stay permit from the government's nursery school allowance. Italian authorities must now allow anyone with a legal stay permit access to the benefit.

• Afghanistan
• Iran

A law in Iran came into effect that allows children born to foreign fathers to apply for citizenship in the country. The legislation follows years of what many Iranian women who married Afghan nationals saw as discrimination. InfoMigrants spoke to some couples about why they welcome the decision.

• Afghanistan
• Congo - Kinshasa
• South Sudan

Children face a greater risk than ever before of growing up surrounded by war, sexual abuse and recruitment into armed groups, a study by the charity Save the Children reported. Children in Africa are the most affected.