The Terre des Hommes Action Day 2025

Today, almost 50 million children are displaced worldwide—more than ever since World War II. They are fleeing war, violence, persecution, poverty, or natural disasters. Most of these children flee within their homeland or to neighboring countries. Only a small proportion reach Europe.

But as more and more children are forced to leave their homes, safe and legal escape routes are becoming increasingly rare. Instead of offering protection and prospects, many countries are closing their borders and hearts.

On International Children's Rights Day on November 20, we will take to the streets to send a clear message for the rights of refugee children and young people.

Terre des Hommes advocates for safe escape routes, reliable protection, and social participation for all children. Because every child counts – no matter where they come from!

Terre des Hommes demands:

In recent years, more and more governments have resorted to isolationism, claiming this will limit "irregular" migration. What they fail to recognize is that there are hardly any legal routes for children and families to escape their home countries in an emergency.

Admission programs from countries of origin, resettlement, and family reunification procedures enable children to escape war and persecution through legal rather than "irregular" and therefore dangerous routes. However, these programs are available to only a few and are increasingly restricted—yet they urgently need to be expanded to protect children and their families.

Children and families fleeing crisis or war zones need reliable protection and real prospects. Precarious residence permits and fear of deportation make it difficult for children to integrate into a new society and build a future for themselves.

Years of uncertainty often result in severe psychological stress. Refugee children must be able to build a future for themselves – and to do so, they need reliable protection.

Children need more than a roof over their heads: they need a safe home, access to education, health and psychosocial care.

But children should also be able to help shape the societies in which they live – their voices and experiences must be heard in decision-making processes.

"When safe routes are lacking, children are left defenseless: They are exploited, detained, or die. Anyone who prevents legal routes violates children's rights—and bears responsibility."

Dr. Nina Violetta Schwarz, Advisor for the Middle East and North Africa region with a focus on refugee and migration issues

questions and answers

Like adults, children and young people are fleeing wars and armed conflicts, a lack of prospects and poverty, persecution and discrimination, and the effects of the climate crisis and environmental destruction in their countries of origin.

Typical child-specific reasons for fleeing include recruitment as child soldiers or the threat of recruitment upon reaching adulthood, as well as gender-specific practices such as forced marriage, FGM (female genital mutilation), and forced prostitution. Children and young people are also affected by specific forms of human trafficking, slavery, and exploitative child labor.

Dangerous, “illegal” routes are often the only options available to children and their families fleeing conflict and persecution.

Safe and legal admission routes are virtually nonexistent, and the few existing programs and regulations are being increasingly restricted worldwide. For example, the German federal government announced in its coalition agreement that it intends to discontinue resettlement and admission programs and further restrict family reunification.

Children and families often have no choice but to embark on dangerous journeys. When they arrive in Europe, they have the right to have their asylum application examined. This fundamental right is also increasingly being questioned.

The vast majority of children and young people seeking protection in Germany arrive with one or both parents. However, in recent years, almost a fifth of all underage first-time asylum applicants have been so-called unaccompanied minors: they flee alone or are separated from their families while fleeing.

The motives for fleeing without adults are diverse and complex. A large proportion of unaccompanied minor refugees report having fled of their own accord – contrary to the common myth that "young people are always sent by their parents." When parents support their children's escape, they do not do so lightly: Desperation and a lack of prospects lead parents to accept their children's escape along unsafe routes.

Reception programs that are specifically open to vulnerable children and young people could spare children the dangerous journey and their families the anxiety and inevitable involvement of smugglers and traffickers.

To travel on a scheduled flight, children and young people require a visa. This is only granted through humanitarian admission (i.e., through admission programs or family reunification procedures).

However, very few children in war and crisis zones have access to these safe escape routes: governments around the world are increasingly restricting these legal access routes.

It is more often (but not exclusively) boys and young men who set out alone on the dangerous escape routes.

Girls' access to escape routes and support systems is often severely restricted, and the same rights violations that cause girls and young women to flee – such as forced marriage, sexual and domestic violence, and massive disenfranchisement – also make it difficult for them to leave the country.

Reception programs that are specifically open to particularly vulnerable groups are therefore particularly important: they ensure that those who are particularly at risk can escape.