Berlin/Osnabrück, December 6, 2023 – On the occasion of tomorrow's trilogue negotiations on a common European asylum system, terre des hommes together with the German Children's Fund, Save the Children, SOS Children's Villages, and other organizations, is appealing to the German government and MEPs to reverse course on the reform of European refugee law. Should the plans be adopted in their current form, this political decision would represent a further step in the disregard for children's rights. With regard to children and young people, the organizations warn in particular against the introduction of border procedures in detention centers, the expansion of the list of safe third countries, and the weakening of procedural guarantees.
"Refugee children are first and foremost children. They have a right to a childhood in safety, far away from barbed wire and squalid camps. For tomorrow's marathon negotiations, we therefore demand that the rights and well-being of refugee children and young people be fought for until the very last moment." “Even though negotiations on reforming the common European asylum system are well advanced, it is not too late to do the right thing,” explains Sophia Eckert, migration and legal expert at terre des hommes .
According to the known reform proposals, refugee children and young people would also be affected by border procedures involving detention or detention-like conditions at the EU's external borders. This violates the right to protection from torture and deprivation of liberty, enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. “It must be ensured that children and young people of all ages are exempt from border procedures without exception. The Convention on the Rights of the Child leaves no other option,” says Eckert. “Border procedures without detention or conditions equivalent to detention are an illusion. Some EU external border countries are already detaining refugee children and young people in violation of their residency status. It is doubtful that this will change with the introduction of border procedures designed to prevent people from entering the EU.”