the treatment of asylum seekers – including asylum seeking children- by EU Member States from the moment they apply for asylum.
In implementing the Directive, Member States should take the best interests of the child into primary consideration, respect the child’ s own views, and ensure an adequate standard of living that supports the child’ s physical, social, and mental development 13.
Accommodation According to the Directive, unaccompanied children seeking asylum shall be placed: with adult relatives; with a foster family; in accommodation centres with special provisions for children; in other accommodation suitable for children. The Directive allows Member States to place unaccompanied children aged 16 or over in accommodation centres for adult applicants, if it is in their best interests. As far as possible, siblings shall be kept together, taking into account the best interests of the child concerned and, in particular, his or her age and degree of maturity. Changes of residence should be limited for unaccompanied children. Regrettably, the Directive falls short of prohibiting the detention of children. It states that children shall be detained only as a measure of last resort, if there are no less coercive measures available, and for the shortest period of time. Under the Directive, unaccompanied children can be detained only in exceptional circumstances.
As provided by the Directive, those working with unaccompanied children should be trained professionals. Member States should start tracing the family of unaccompanied children as soon as possible.
Access to education The Directive provides for access to education for children no later than three months after an application for asylum and « under similar conditions » as nationals, even though it allows for the possibility of education to be provided in accommodation centres( rather than mainstream schools). It also provides for preparatory classes, including language classes to facilitate access to the education system.
Access to health care The Directive provides that people with special reception needs, including children, should have access to“ necessary medical or other assistance” including appropriate mental health care.
Guardianship Under the Directive,“ Member States shall as soon as possible take measures to ensure that a representative represents and assists the unaccompanied minor”. The role of the representative is to help secure the child’ s rights.
The Commission proposal to review the Reception Conditions Directive requires Member States to take measures to ensure that a guardian represents and assists the unaccompanied child as soon as possible and no later than 5 working days after the unaccompanied child makes an application. The European Parliament( EP) report introduces a requirement to take such measures“ from
13 _ For further information on the ongoing process to review the Reception Conditions Directive, see: European Commission, Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council Laying Down Standards for the Reception of Applicants for International Protection( Recast), COM( 2016) 465 final,( 13 July 2016) https:// ec. europa. eu / home-affairs / sites / homeaffairs / files / what-we-do / policies / european-agenda-migration / proposal-implementation-package / docs / 20160713 / proposal _ on _ standards _ for _ the _ reception _ of _ applicants _ for _ international _ protection _ en. pdf European Parliament, Report on the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council Laying Down Standards for the Reception of Applicants for International Protection( Recast)”, European Parliament( 10 May 2017) http:// www. europarl. europa. eu / sides / getDoc. do? pubRef =- % 2F % 2FEP % 2F % 2FTEXT % 2BREPORT % 2BA8-2017-0186 % 2B0 % 2BDOC % 2BXML % 2BV0 % 2F % 2FEN & language = EN ECRE, ECRE Comments on Reception Conditions Directive recast proposal( October 2016) https:// www. ecre. org / wp-content / uploads / 2016 / 10 / ECRE-Comments-RCD. pdf
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