The absence of a comprehensive national legal
framework on migration has a negative impact
on children. The lack of clear guidelines setting
out migration status requirements and rights,
combined with a heavy reliance on ministerial
discretion, results in inconsistencies in the
migration permissions granted to children.
Given the complexity of migration law, access
to information and legal advice is essential for
children, but it is not always guaranteed .
THE PRACTICE
The “Child Migration Matters” project aimed
to advocate for the rights of migrant children in
Ireland, to identify the problems they face and
to engage with law and policymakers to improve
their situations.
Nowadays I don’t leave my house. Normally I’d go out
every day but now I don’t leave because I’m afraid that if
I go somewhere and I will get stopped by an officer I’ll be
asked for proof of identification. I don’t have anything.
I’ll be taken off somewhere, wherever people get taken
off, I don’t know.
Paul, undocumented young person, cited in: Katie Mannion, “Child Mi-
gration Matters: Children and Young People’s Experiences of Migration”
(Dublin: Immigrant Council of Ireland, 2016), 141.
The project included services for individual
children, such as legal counselling and legal
representation, and research and advocacy.
Children, young people and their families and
advocates were offered information on the
procedure children must follow to register with
the migration authorities and on regularisation
and naturalisation procedures.
The Immigrant Council of Ireland provides
legal representation on family reunification
applications for separated children who are
not eligible for the government’s free legal aid
programme as well as legal representation
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during the application process for residence
permits, naturalisation procedures and asylum
applications.
One of the project’s main objectives was to
increase awareness among professionals
working with children, including social workers,
aftercare workers, and guardians, of the need to
address children’s migration status and how to
seek legal advice when appropriate.
The project included the following legal case-
work and advocacy activities:
- Outreach sessions with professionals work-
ing with migrant children to raise awareness
of the legal matters and the situation of this
group of children. Such sessions sought to
inform them of the services offered by the
Immigrant Council of Ireland and to encour-
age them to refer their cases to the Immigrant
Council where appropriate;
- Legal casework on behalf of children referred
to the organisation with a particular focus
on extremely vulnerable migrant children in
care;
- Development of a legal research report ana-
lysing international standards, relevant laws,
policies and administrative practices as well
as sample case studies and the data available
from state agencies to identify best practices
and recommendations for administrative,
policy and law reform;
- A national conference on child migration and
human rights to launch and disseminate the
report’s findings and recommendations.