refugee minors

• Italy

A reported 48 people have completed a course in Sicily to become tutors for unaccompanied migrant minors, organizers said on July 13. They will support the education and training of foreign minors.

• Greece

More than 4,000 refugees and asylum seekers have been relocated from Greece to other countries in the European Union since April 2020, according to various UN agencies. Meanwhile, the number of refugees and migrants on the Greek islands has fallen from 40,000 to less than 10,000.

• Bosnia & Herzegovina
• Greece
• Italy

A new report published by Oxfam and other NGOs has denounced that underage migrants who have travelled to Europe on their own face obstacles once they turn 18 due to a complicated bureaucracy.

• Italy

The Italian Association for Juridical Studies on Immigration (ASGI) has created new guidelines for the protection of underage migrants who arrive in Italy without family. Their goal: To help social workers and legal guardians understand the laws and procedures for unaccompanied minors and make sure their rights are respected.

• Italy

During 2020, a helpline set up by Save the Children in Italy to assist migrants under the age of 18 helped a total of 1,115 people. The main issues dealt with included the interruption of educational activities, the suspension of family reunification procedures, and the lack of meetings with volunteer guardians.

• 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

Ali, a 15-year-old Guinean migrant whom InfoMigrants met at the beginning of the year, admitted that he does not always eat enough. The young man spends his days scouring the various food distribution points in Paris.

• 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.

• Spain

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child considers Spain responsible for violating the rights of a migrant minor who was forced to undress and undergo invasive medical examinations to determine her age.

• Spain

One minor migrant out of five in Spain is undocumented, according to a report by the NGO Save the Children with the Por Causa Foundation. It said there are nearly 147,000 undocumented minors in Spain, based on the most recent statistics, which are from 2019.

• Italy

A dozen human rights associations have accused public prosecutors in Trieste, northeastern Italy, of not protecting the rights of asylum seekers. They say prosecutors failed to act when underage asylum seekers were housed in facilities for adults for months.

• Denmark

The Danish parliament has voted to begin an impeachment trial against the former immigration minister Inger Stojberg. She will go on trial over her policy of separating asylum seeking couples if one of them was under 18, and therefore a minor.