On the occasion of International Children's Rights Day on November 20th
Osnabrück, November 17, 2022 – On the occasion of International Children's Rights Day on November 20, the children's rights organization terre des hommes demands that unaccompanied minor refugees be given the right to bring their minor siblings to Germany.
“Many refugee children and young people who come to Germany without their parents often haven’t seen their siblings for years. This is because, when they receive refugee protection, only their parents have the right to join them; the siblings do not. They are usually not allowed to come along, even if they are infants or toddlers,” says Sophia Eckert, refugee and migration expert at terre des hommes . “As a result, many families remain separated for years or even permanently.”
Together with numerous alliance partners terre des hommes is appealing to the Federal Government under the hashtag <em>#SiblingsBelongTogether</em> to make it possible for siblings to join their families without bureaucratic hurdles.
“Siblings belong together; families must not be permanently separated. With the coalition agreement, the traffic light parties agreed to improve the legal situation regarding sibling reunification. We therefore expect the federal government to create a legal right to sibling reunification in the next migration package and ensure that no child has to live without their family,” said Joshua Hofert, Head of Communications at terre des hommes .
Further information: #SiblingsBelongTogether