Children's rights at the EU's external borders

Behind walls and bars: How children are unlawfully pushed back and imprisoned at the borders of the European Union

More than 43 million children and young people are refugees worldwide. Some are trying to find protection in Europe: 222,100 minors submitted their first asylum application in the EU in 2022. One in five was unaccompanied.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child applies to all of them. They have fundamental rights—which, in practice, are ruthlessly violated. Refugee children are violently pushed back at the EU's external borders and experience abuse, either themselves or their companions. They are separated from their families or detained.

Children's rights are systematically violated at the EU's external borders.
Children are being forcibly denied the right to fair asylum procedures.
States on the EU's external borders are detaining refugee children.

Report »Before walls and behind bars«

Terre des Hommes together with partner organizations in Bulgaria, Greece, Poland, and Hungary, documents the situation at the EU's external borders. Download or order for free.

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Video on YouTube

In this short film, young people who fled to Europe as minors talk about their reasons for fleeing, pushbacks, imprisonment and the psychological consequences.

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Terre des Hommes demands: An asylum and migration policy that complies with children's rights!

Children and young people have the right to seek protection in the EU. They must never be prevented from doing so. terre des hommes calls for comprehensive and independent human rights monitoring at the EU's external borders.

Detention of children and young people during migration proceedings always violates the Convention on the Rights of the Child. They must be housed in a child-friendly environment – this can never happen behind barbed wire, not even in border procedures.

Inadequate procedures lead to violations of children's rights. Therefore, each individual protection request in the EU needs a careful and comprehensive substantive review, with the involvement of child protection experts.

Terre des Hommes advocates for adequate legal protection for minors and other procedural guarantees for children's rights in registration, asylum and return procedures.

The temporary suspension of guarantees during emergencies paves the way for ongoing violations of rights. Children's rights guarantees must remain independent of geopolitical strategies.

Take action

Their campaign for refugee children

We would be delighted if you came up with and implemented your own campaign. You can find ideas and suggestions in our campaign guide.

The actions require varying degrees of organization and preparation. They all aim to make the findings of the new Terre des Hommes report and information from our exhibition "Children's Rights at the EU's External Borders" accessible to the public. We want to draw public attention to the violations of children's rights at Europe's external borders! We are happy to answer any questions and support you in planning your event: region-europa@tdh.de

Important: Everyone should know about it! That's why we'd love to receive reports and photos for our website. Please send a small selection of your event photos and a few lines with facts about the event to Tina Böcker-Eden, Member Communications : t.boecker-eden@tdh.de