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EMN Conference on Unaccompanied Minors ,
Accommodation and Care Arrangements ,
The panel participants from left to right: Antje Steinbüchel (Land Youth Welfare Office Rhineland), Ulrike Schwarz (Federal Association for Unaccompanied Minor Refugees, BumF e. V.), Dr. Martha Matscher (Ministry of the Interior, Italy), and chair Dr. Axel Kreienbrink (Research Centre of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees).
Source: BAMF
Unaccompanied Minors in Germany - Key Findings from the EMN-Study 2018
The first panel was opened by Julian Tangermann, research associate of the German EMN Contact Point and co-author of the EMN-study on unaccompanied minors in Germany . He presented some of the key findings of the study. The study focuses on the phase after the legal residency status has been clarified, so after a suspension of removal or a residence permit has been issued, or after an application for asylum has been denied. The study deals with the topics of taking into care, care arrangements, as well as integration into school, training, and issues of return, disappearance, and family reunification.
Developments and Challenges in Youth Welfare since 2015
Antje Steinbüchel, team leader, Land Youth Welfare Office Rhineland.
Source: BAMF
Antje Steinbüchel, team leader at the Land Youth Welfare Office Rhineland, then addressed some key developments in the distribution, accommodation, and care of unaccompanied minors over the past few years. According to her, the enactment of a nationwide distribution mechanism on 1 November 2015 has been decisive. Up to that point, the arrival location principle had been in use, according to which the youth welfare office responsible for taking care of an unaccompanied minor was the youth welfare office in whose area of responsibility the unaccompanied minor first arrived. The arrival of unaccompanied minors was thus not evenly distributed across the Federal Republic and the approximately 600 youth welfare offices, but rather was concentrated in a few Länder and municipalities. This system only worked for as long as the number of arrivals was relatively low. Starting in 2009, however, the yearly number of arrivals increased continuously. In the year 2011, around 3,482 unaccompanied minors were taken into care, while as many as 6,584 were taken into care in 2013 and 11,642 in 2014. This meant that the youth welfare offices and municipalities that were accepting most of the young refugees were ultimately overwhelmed.
New distribution procedure has proven its worth
According to Steinbüchel, the new distribution procedure introduced in 2015 came at the “most chaotic time ever”, when refugee migration to Germany in general was at its peak. Many youth welfare offices had to quickly adapt and find ways to accommodate and care for unaccompanied minors last-minute, while also implementing the organisation of distribution. This initially caused complications and called for a great deal of improvisation. At the time, there were also many who were critical, who saw redistribution as detrimental to the well-being of the children. Steinbüchel is of the opinion, however, that the distribution system has ultimately proven effective and some of the fears have not come to pass or have not come to pass to the extent initially feared. For one thing, only a portion of the unaccompanied minors are being distributed to different Länder as of now. Furthermore, the system of distributing unaccompanied minors across Germany made it possible to make full use of the capacities of the youth welfare offices, medical services, schools, and associations. The system is now stable and could also handle a similarly steep increase as was seen in 2015 and 2016 without a problem: “The system would work smoothly,”
according to Steinbüchel.
„Thanks to the mammoth efforts made by the 600 youth welfare offices in Germany, we made it at the end.”
Antje Steinbüchel
Legal Developments and their Effects on Working with and for Unaccompanied Minor Refugees
Ulrike Schwarz, Federal Association for Unaccompanied Minor Refugees (BumF) e.V.
Source: BAMF
Ulrike Schwarz from the Federal Association for Unaccompanied Minor Refugees (BumF) e.V. highlighted the sheer number of new legal regulations affecting unaccompanied minors over the past few years as a major challenge. Since 2015 there have been 20 legislative procedures relating to unaccompanied minors and of which 16 new laws have been enacted as a result. This had made the legal situation very confusing for those working with unaccompanied minors and also having a problematic effect for pedagogical work, according to Schwarz.
“Limiting family reunification for beneficiaries of subsidiary protection poses a great challenge and makes pedagogical work more difficult.”
Ulrike Schwarz
Concerning the discussion surrounding age assessment, Schwarz advocates for a term change to “age estimation”, since an age cannot be “assessed” from the viewpoint of youth welfare. The new practical guide from EASO (mentioned by Isabela Atanaisiu) also emphasises that an age cannot be solidly assessed and a range of two years should be assumed when estimating the age.
New legal regulations make pedagogical work more difficult
In regards to the largely suspended family reunification for beneficiaries of subsidiary protection, which also involves the reunification of parents with unaccompanied minors, Schwarz highlighted the challenges for pedagogical work with children and juveniles. The children and young people would continue to maintain direct contact with their family members via social media. Combined with the limited possibility to be reunited with their parents, increasingly more young people would express the desire to return to their family’s country of origin - even when there were war and crisis situations in the region of origin.
The Situation of Unaccompanied Minors in Italy
Dr. Martha Matscher, Vice-Prefect, Immigration and Asylum Policies Italian Ministry of Interior.
Source: BAMF
Dr. Martha Matscher, Vice-Prefect in the Italian Ministry of the Interior, broadened the view on the situation of unaccompanied minors in Italy as well as the phenomenon of the high disappearance rates and the onward-travel from Italy to other Member States. In many cases, applicants are entitled to reunification with family members in other Member States, but the processes and arrangements between Member States can sometimes take months to complete. It is almost impossible to explain to young people that they need to remain at a location in Italy for an extended period of time so that they can then be reunited with their family in a coordinated way in the desired target State as part of a family reunification process. Many of the children and juveniles will thus start travelling there themselves, especially to Great Britain, Sweden, Germany, or the Netherlands. There is therefore a need for a more flexible system of continued migration and distribution within the EU that also allows for “spontaneous” onward journeys to family members or contact persons. What makes this even more important is that, in the current system, it is easier for unaccompanied minors to fall victim to criminal organisations that will make promises to them and then force them into prostitution or the organ trade.
“The administrative channels under the Dublin III Regulation are far too complicated, long, and intricate. Many unaccompanied minors will start travelling to their destination themselves in the meantime.”
Dr. Martha Matscher
More flexible system for continued distribution is necessary
The exceptionally high number of new unaccompanied minors arriving in Italy in recent years has led to the establishment of a new reception system. One change concerns the role of the municipalities, which until now were solely responsible for the admission. The two-stage system provides for the unaccompanied minors to be distributed to the communities after initial admission for up to 30 days. The municipalities agree to admit unaccompanied minors on a voluntary basis (the so-called SPRAR system - reception system for asylum seekers and refugees). The new two-stage system would have to be further established and efforts would be made on an ongoing basis to expand capacities in both stages. The guiding principle, according to Matscher, is: “increasing the number of places in the first and second admission and harmonising the standards for the admission of unaccompanied minors throughout the country”. In total, more than 13,000 unaccompanied minors lived in reception facilities in Italy in mid-2018.
Age assessment has already been standardised across Italy with a multi-disciplinary process that must be attended by a medical doctor, a social worker, a legal guardian, and a psychologist and after which a report must be sent to the youth welfare office. A member of the conference audience called for the peculiarities associated with the circumstances of displacement and flight be taken into account in the process of age assessment. Children and juveniles may look many years older than they actually are as a result of the stress from sometimes many years spent on the road. Only after they have arrived and been able to rest for a while will it be visibly obvious that they are indeed children and juveniles.
In the discussion that followed, Steinbüchel brought up the importance of close coordination within Europe and exchange of information, since many youth welfare office workers did not know, for example, who they could contact in other Member States when they have questions about possible family members there. As a whole, the presenters agreed that closer coordination on a European level were essential, especially in regards to distribution and family reunification. A participant from the audience reiterated the need for a general opening of family reunification and a faster processing of applications for family reunification with unaccompanied minors, since she had observed in her own work that unaccompanied minors become increasingly desperate when dealing with the limitation.
Participants of the conference.
Source: BAMF
The representatives from Germany also handled a question from the audience on the draft Children and Juvenile Support Act (Kinder- und Jugendstärkungsgesetz – KJSG). The bill had been passed by the Bundestag in June 2017, but it had not been possible to definitively enact it within the remaining legislative period. The presenters assumed that the law would not go into force in its current form and would at least have to be modified, since it was set to go into force on 1 January 2018, among other things, and the new law would therefore need to go into force retroactively, which was seen as improbable Modification and reassessment was seen as the more probable option. However, currently there would be no new information and developments on this.
Martha Matscher was also asked by the audience to explain in more detail the practice in Italy, which provides that the managers of reception facilities also act as temporary guardians of unaccompanied minors. Due to the high number of unaccompanied minors, it is sometimes a lengthy process in Italy to appoint a guardian. In order to counter this process, the new law stipulates that until a guardian is appointed, the heads of the reception facilities will assist the minor in applying for a residence permit or international protection.