The reception of unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors : a comparative socio-legal analysis

Abstract

The recent refugee crisis has seen an unprecedented amount of unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors reaching EU countries, leading to strains on reception systems. Shortcomings in such systems have led to the disappearance of such children and the aim of this study is that of examining such systems since reception will pave the way for their overall wellbeing. Unaccompanied minors are particularly vulnerable since they are asylum seekers who have experienced hardships at a very young age. Therefore, they deserve full rights of asylum seekers as well as of children. International and EU law both provide for their rights but there still exists no one legal framework governing their situation and providing for their full rights. A critical appraisal of the existing legal framework will therefore be carried out. The situation in Malta is quite different from that of its European counterparts. Even though Malta faced a substantial amount of asylum-seekers arriving to its shores in the early 2000s, it was not affected as strongly as other European countries in the recent migration crisis. Nevertheless, Malta is still bound by European Union laws and also needs to be prepared in receiving unaccompanied minors in case of a change in scenario. For this reason, an examination of the reception conditions and procedures in Malta will be carried out. The study will take the form of a comparative and critical analysis of the system in three other EU Member States - Italy, Greece and the Netherlands – will be carried out. Analysing foreign systems is important in order to deduce what the best practices adopted in Europe are. Cooperation is of utmost importance in Europe in view of having a better reception system in general and avoiding further disappearances and exploitation of unaccompanied minors.