Challenges

More than 88,300 unaccompanied children applied for asylum in the EU member states in 2015. A large part of them, according to Eurostat, have passed through or stayed in Southeast Europe. In October 2016, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Croatia, the Ministry of Interior Affairs of Croatia, the Ministry of Social Policy and Youth of Croatia and UNICEF Croatia organized the sub-regional conference: ‘On the move and alone: how to respond effectively to the needs of unaccompanied and separated children in Southeast Europe?’’

With the participation of more than 70 experts and professionals from nine European countries, the initiative aimed to:

• Take stock of lessons learned during one year of response to the refugee and migrant crisis in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia and Croatia.
• Promote dialogue, experience sharing and cooperation among child protection professionals from governments and other national and international child protection and social welfare bodies that deal with unaccompanied and separated children.
• Discuss solutions to reduce language and cultural barriers, to respect the opinions of separated and unaccompanied children, to ensure all services and support during the process of reunification, and to provide the guardianship and education that will support the future of refugee and migrant children.

Toward a Solution

During the conference, civil servants, experts, representatives of civil society and international organizations shared and discussed different challenges and experiences in protection of unaccompanied and separated children in transit countries (Croatia, Greece, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) and destination countries (Netherlands). Representatives from UNICEF and UNHCR regional offices presented international standards and guidelines for protection of unaccompanied children. The conference methodology was participatory, from the phase of its preparation (contributions were sought on the topics to be addressed and good practices that participants wanted to share) to its implementation (involving thematic discussion groups for more in-depth knowledge sharing and joint conclusions).

After one year of responding to the massive influx of refugees and migrants through the Western Balkan Route, participating countries have developed different practices to address the needs of unaccompanied and separated children. The conference contributed to systemic, cross-country transfer of these good practices and created space for more efficient cross-border cooperation in the region.

Specifically, the thematic groups provided key insights and conclusions on topics such as:

identification, registration and monitoring of unaccompanied and separated children; family tracing and reunification; best interest assessment and determination; guardianship and effective case management; adequate care and accommodation; durable solutions; and coordination mechanisms. More generally, experiences shared indicated that the needs of unaccompanied and separated children during the recent crises overwhelmed the national child protection systems and revealed several gaps in those systems, underlining a need to continue reinforcing national capacities to address neglect, abuse and exploitation for all vulnerable children through community- based approaches.

During the wrap-up session, participants provided the following assessment:

• Participants from countries not involved in the recent response were able to identify, through the experiences of countries involved, their own gaps in protecting the most vulnerable children.
• The personal introductions made during the conference would help collaboration and networking on the transnational dimensions of protection of unaccompanied and separate children.
• The conference generated great interest among participants in adopting several tools developed by   countries, such as Serbia’s standard operating procedures for handling the cases of the most vulnerable children.

Following the conference, the Croatian Government established a Working Group for the Revision, the National Protocol on Unaccompanied and Separated Children, benefiting from clear recommendations formulated during the conference.

The conference provided an opportunity for all participating countries to benefit from the exchange, either through the revision of existing policies and programmes, or through the identification of gaps that need to be addressed to provide the most vulnerable children adequate protection and services. This clearly demonstrated the importance of organizing more regular consultations of countries affected by refugee and migrant crises. For the learning to be incorporated into practice, leadership by governments is needed. The outcomes of the conference are currently being shared and incorporated in different processes aiming to strengthen the quality of the response to the needs of children on the move in the region.