Berlin/Osnabrück, 06.11.2023- On the occasion of today's federal-state refugee summit, the international child rights organization terre des hommes is concerned about the situation of refugee children: "They live in overcrowded accommodations, the standards are increasingly lowered and the child and youth welfare is hardly involved," complains Sophia Eckert, Rechts- und Migration expert at terre des hommes . »According to the UN Convention on Children's Rights Rights, the rights to be adequate living conditions, protection against violence and access to education and health are often violated. These rights apply to all children. "
According to terre des hommes today's refugee summit offers a chance to redesign the shared responsibility of the federal government, the states and municipalities for the admission of children seeking protection with their families and unaccompanied minors. In the future, civil society organizations that work with refugee children should also be consulted and heard.
According to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, around a third of asylum seekers and adolescents under the age of 18 were under the age of 18 from January to September 2023. As for all children, the provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child apply regardless of their country of origin and their residence status. terre des hommes calls on the Federal Government and the municipalities to finally implement these provisions. Among other things, this means that the decentralized accommodation of refugee children must be made possible. To do this, the living obligation in admission facilities (§ 47 Asylum) for children and their families must be lifted and at the same time made use of the possibility of releasing families from the admission facility at an early stage (Section 49 (2) asylum). In addition, access to public child and youth welfare for accompanied and unaccompanied refugees must be ensured, and they must have access to health services, early childhood education and regular schools.
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