to ensure that refugee and migrant children
are able to understand and follow asylum or
other legal proceedings and to exercise their
rights 17 . Procedural Safeguards are a primary
consideration to the child’s best interest and
all staff should be trained on these. Staff should
implement these safeguards in a child centered
and friendly manner, in line with General
Comment 13 (2011) on the UNCRC, on The
Right of the Child to Freedom from all forms of
Violence 18 .
How can this be achieved?
• Applying the highest standards of selection,
recruitment and verification procedures.
Applicants for any position that allows
interaction with children, whether
professionals or volunteers, should disclose
any previous criminal record. This is
accomplished through providing a police
check or any other appropriate check, and
cross-checking of references 19 .
• By ensuring that staff working with and for
children (such as border guards, reception
centre workers, guardians etc.) are adequately
trained in child protection and rights of the
child and in communicating with children
in a gender, age- and context- appropriate
manner.
• By ensuring mandatory and ongoing training
on child rights for all professionals working
with children, and training modules that are
practical, and based upon and aligned to the
UNCRC 20 .
• By monitoring stress among professionals
and volunteers and supporting their
well-being 21 . This includes ensuring
manageable caseloads for child protection
staff and guardians, regular and supportive
supervision, promoting and strengthening
peer-to-peer support among staff; developing
and establishing policies and protocols for the
continuous monitoring of distress levels and
satisfaction among staff working with refugee
and migrant children; providing Psychological
First Aid and stress management training for
managers and staff.
• By equipping staff working with refugee
and migrant children with the relevant
knowledge and skills to: prepare young people
in alternative care to develop life skills to
deal with persistently stressful conditions
caused or exacerbated by displacement
and to successfully make the transition to
adulthood and independence by applying a
rights-based approach; be active promoters of
children’s right to participation; and identify
children in need of further focused support.
In addition, staff working with refugee and
migrant children should be equipped to assist
children in issues related to their migration
status. As an example, the training offered by
the Immigrant Council of Ireland to social
workers and other professionals working
with migrant children helped increase their
knowledge of migration law and raised
awareness of the need to include actions to
secure children’s legal status in their care
plans as early as possible.
17 _ For further information on procedural safeguards and EU legislation on this matter, see the General Background Paper drafted for the 10th
Child Rights Forum on The Protection of Children in Migration, e.g. Chapter 3.1,
http://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/just/item-detail.cfm?item_id=34456
18 _ General Comment 13 (2011) UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the right of the child to freedom from all forms of violence, art 2 (b): "A
child rights-based approach to child caregiving and protection requires a paradigm shift towards respecting and promoting the human dignity
and the physical and psychological integrity of children as rights-bearing individuals rather than perceiving them primarily as “victims”",
https://tinyurl.com/y7x2qg9b
19 _ SOS Children's Villages International, Child Protection Policy (May 2008),
https://www.sos-childrensvillages.org/getmedia/c490b303-02b4-4b17-9434-07c09d771921/ChildProtection-Policy-eng.pdf
20 _ SOS Children’s Villages International, European Recommendations on the implementation of a child-rights based approach for care
Professionals working with and for children (2015) https://www.sos-childrensvillages.org/getmedia/2a751100-f8ec-463e-bf78-87014d22edeb/
European-Recommendations-on-child-rights-based-care.pdf.
21 _ See UNHCR, IOM and MHPSS.net (2015), Ibid.
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