Seminar 5: Legal and Policy Responses to Child Migration in Europe Foresight Centre, University of Liverpool, 12 th January 2015

Transcription

1 Seminar 5: Legal and Policy Responses to Child Migration in Europe Foresight Centre, University of Liverpool, 12 th January : Welcome and Introduction Ingi Lusmen and Helen Stalford Helen Stalford began by welcoming delegates to the seminar. Helen spoke about this seminar in terms of bringing together different stakeholders to examine emerging topics and issues in the area of legal and policy responses to child migration in Europe with representation from child participants, the NGO community, the academic community and practitioners. Helen commented on how this seminar would explore the different experiences of child migrants through cross-cutting themes such as child participation, mainstreaming of children s rights in policy and juvenile justice. Helen noted that the EU has developed an extensive legal framework in relation to immigration and asylum, but the impact of this on child migrants experiences of the system is unclear : Children s Rights and the Free Movement of Persons: Privileged Migrants? Charlotte O Brien, University of York: Accelerating EU child poverty: dehumanising the European migrant child through the social security system Charlotte spoke in relation to United Kingdom law and reform on welfare benefits and legal aid. The EU Rights Project which documents the difficulties encountered in accessing benefits and argued that in political terms, migration is framed as mischief. Charlotte referenced the UK s defensive reaction to the Court of Justice decision in Zambrano which paved the way for treating immigrants more favourably if they have children. Charlotte noted how part-time and atypical work is being re-classified, the genuine prospects of work test, jobseeker cliff edge and housing benefits are all being progressively constricted, with disproportionate effects on children and families. Charlotte discussed the new targets set by the Minister; to limit the residence rights of jobseekers, to exclude EU nationals from in-work benefits and to stop exportation of child benefit. Charlotte argued that these proposals would require fundamental revisions of EU treaties and further argued that this proposal in itself is discriminatory. Charlotte then discussed the ideological and political agenda which is retreating to a position where persons must be economic actors in the strictest sense of the word (engaged in paid work as the primary activity) to benefit from welfare and residence rights in the UK. Eleanor Drywood, University of Liverpool: Migration, children s rights and professional football recruitment Eleanor spoke of the issues encountered by children in the professional football recruitment process, the problem of rogue agents exploiting children and their families for money on the basis of false promises for lucrative contracts with high profile football clubs, the similarities to trafficking and the complicity of the football industry and policy makers in this area. Eleanor discussed how this phenomenon is under-researched with only small scale research being conducted by a number of journalists and how this phenomenon has largely escaped the

2 focus of children s rights advocates. Eleanor examined the prohibition on international signing and transfer of players under eighteen, discussed how the exceptions to this prohibition are very problematic and how agents are consistently looking for loopholes to exploit. Eleanor then explored how to conceptualise this in terms of children s rights, where political/legal intervention might come from and the complicity of the football industry in the more egregious children s rights violations. Ingi Lusmen, University of Southampton: Migrant Roma Children Ingi spoke of the migrant Roma population, the largest ethnic minority and the most significant obstacle they face; social exclusion encompassing key factors such as poverty, social marginalisation, discrimination, racism, institutional racism, employment, housing, health and human rights violations. Ingi discussed how migrant Roma children experience a multi-dimensional vulnerability; as Roma members, as migrants, as an ethnic minority and as children. Ingi examined EU legal and policy instruments such as the Race Equality Directive, Employment Equality Directive, the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies. Ingi explored how migrant Roma children are routinely perceived as a threat and experience rejection in countries of destination. In countries of origin, EU binding legislation has little impact, there is a lack of a holistic approach and school segregation continues to occur : Supporting Unaccompanied Children in Europe Nadine Finch, as chair for the second session, introduced the panel and welcomed the first speaker, Nando Sigona. Nando Sigona, School of Social Policy; University of Birmingham: Intersection age and legal status: the case of young undocumented migrants in the UK Nando spoke of the experiences of youth, their legal status, ageing and the experience of being undocumented in everyday life. Nando explored the political economy of illegality, how this concept is constructed in the UK, migration law within the UK and the subsequent effect of these issues on young undocumented migrants. Nando discussed the complexity of these issues in terms of life stages and re-emphasised the importance of age and legal status. Nando spoke of the coping strategies utilised by participants in his research, such as focusing on the present. Nando then explored the effect that legal status has in terms of shaping emotional status and the subsequent impact this has on friendships where young undocumented migrants do not share their real experiences and feel as though they have to lie as friends may not understand the complexity of their situation. Aoife Horgan, School of Applied Social Studies; University College Cork, Ireland: Aged out minors in Ireland: Negotiating the transition from State care Aoife spoke about the situation facing separated children in Ireland once they turn eighteen and are no longer protected by their status as minors. Aoife examined how the situation for separated in Ireland has improved in recent years in terms of improved policy and practice

3 where separated children are now being integrated into Irish society by means of foster care provision as opposed to the previous system of hostel accommodation. Aoife then explored the policy context of transitioning from State care and ageing out of the care system. Aoife argued that the provision of aftercare is inconsistent and ad hoc and separated children, now referred to as aged out minors, are transferred from the care of the Child and Family Agency to the direct provision system of accommodation for asylum seekers. Aoife discussed the issues and challenges faced by aged out minors in this process including dispersal, inadequate preparation, inadequate support and information regarding leaving care, isolation, and experiencing an accelerated transition to adulthood. Nadia Kornioti, Hope for Children UNCRC Policy Centre, Cyprus Nadia spoke about the NGO, Hope for Children, a shelter for unaccompanied minors in Cyprus where there are lawyers and psychologists working with service users. Hope for Children receives approximately unaccompanied children per year, some of whom may have been trafficked into Cyprus, facilitating integration in addition to working with them on family reunification. Nadia discussed the issue of representation for unaccompanied children as being extremely problematic as there is no provision in law anymore for representation in Cyprus. Nadia explored other issues facing unaccompanied children including medical examination and age assessment. Nadia then examined the area of best interests determination, for which there is no official policy at present Migrant Children s Access to Justice Sarah Woodhouse, as chair for the third session, introduced the panel and welcomed the first speaker, Lilana Keith. Lilana Keith, Platform for International Co-operation on Undocumented Migrants: Why a rights-based approach to migrant children?: The case of undocumented children and families. Lilana spoke about the situation of migrant children and parents who are undocumented. There is almost no data available on this community, and considerable gaps in migration and social policy exist making it difficult to address the issues and challenges faced by people in these circumstances. Lilana discussed the fluid nature of their migration status, where children may have status but their parents do not. She also drew attention to an absence of systematic, sufficiently distinct consideration of best interests in migration-related decisions where children s status is linked to their parents. Lilana explored the issues of detention, deportation and accessing justice where there is a lack of legal representation, financial support and information. Sheona York, Kent Law Clinic: How children become failed asylum-seekers Sheona spoke about a research study undertaken by the Kent Law Clinic in which the asylum files of 30 young people were examined in detail with an aim of finding out how these young

4 people became failed asylum seekers and thus finding a corrective remedy. Further critical aims of this research included ensuring that these young people were informed of the challenges of the asylum process and contributing to improved practice in institutions involved in the asylum process. The main conclusions drawn from this research indicated that children become failed asylum seekers by means of refusals, age disputed cases, the case relying on evidence that was unlawfully obtained, the case not being appealed or believed and social workers assessing the young person as being older than their claimed age. Sheona then discussed further issues of poor quality legal representation and the Tribunal s inconsistent handling of age assessment disputes and family tracing. Kamena Dorling, Coram Children s Legal Centre: Routes to regularisation for migrant children in the UK Kamena spoke about immigration status not being static; one can fall in and out of regularity. Kamena then discussed the importance of not viewing the immigration and asylum system as being separate and distinct. Kamena explored the routes to regularisation including citizenship, immigration rules-private/family life, asylum, adoption, statelessness, EU law rights and victims of trafficking. Kamena then discussed the multitude of barriers to regularisation which included lack of awareness and understanding on the part of children, young people and families, restrictive interpretations of Article 8 ECHR, poor quality legal representation, application fees, poor quality decision making and length/type of leave granted. Kamena examined the tension between children s rights and the prioritisation of immigration control and how a durable solution must be found. Baljeet Sandhu, Migrant and Refugee Children s Legal Unit, Islington Law Centre: Baljeet spoke about how children s rights are in jeopardy and examined this through the withdrawal of legal aid from separated migrant children in England and Wales. Baljeet discussed how after the 1 st of April 2013, publically funded legal aid has been withdrawn from most immigration cases in the UK. Baljeet explored access to justice and a forthcoming challenge to reinstate legal aid for separated children in non-asylum immigration proceedings : Summing up and Ways Forward Discussion in relation to summing up and ways forward focused on the child s right to be heard, taking into account the proliferation of children s rights instruments versus what is happening in practice. The issue of continued reliance on the NGO sector was raised in relation to legal aid gaps and the potential to utilise EU mechanisms was discussed. The continued importance of gaining children and young peoples perspective of the system was explored in addition to discussing how to get children and young people more actively involved, for example, in identifying gaps in the system and the significance of not having adults continuously setting the agenda.

5 Summing up: Discussion throughout the seminar was varied and encompassed a multitude of issues. The politicisation of migration was discussed, the diverse experiences of children in different migrant categories was explored encompassing issues of legal representation, trafficking, social exclusion, racism, institutional racism, discrimination, social marginalisation, poverty. Also examined within the discussion were issues relating to age assessment practices and procedures, entry routes into the country of destination and the language of rights for unaccompanied minors.. The normal aspirations of children and young people growing up in these circumstances were discussed and contrasted to the harsh reality of the asylum process. Legal reforms relating to legal aid support and welfare benefits were highlighted as limiting children and young people s access to justice and basic support. The consequent effect of poor quality legal representation is acting as a further barrier to more rigorous best interests determinations and identifying durable solutions. This summary report was drafted by Aoife Horgan, School of Applied Social Studies; University College Cork, Ireland Feb 2015