Children, youth and families

This Report is focused on the specific issue of the lack of a formal Best Interests Determination procedure for separated children and the practice of return of separated children to return houses in countries of origin. Wider issues regarding return in general and the larger area of the treatment and rights of child migrants and asylum seekers fall outside...

The objective of the General Comment is to draw attention to the particularly vulnerable situation of unaccompanied and separated children; to outline the multifaceted challenges faced by States and other actors in ensuring that such children are able to access and enjoy their rights; and, to provide guidance on the protection, care and proper treatment of...

This brochure can help parents to prepare children in the best possible way in view of the return towards the country of origin. The first part discusses the emotions of children in view of return. The second part will provide tips in view of the preparations of return.

Over the last decade, migrant children from Uganda’s north-eastern region of Karamoja have become increasingly common in the streets of Kampala and other urban centres in Uganda. These children are highly visible, vulnerable and clearly living in extreme poverty. Public perception of these migrant children is informed by an understanding of the drivers of...

IOM increasingly assists families with minor children on their return to their countries of origin. As an effort to recognize the right of children to be informed about the return procedure and the role that IOM plays, IOM in the Netherlands has developed a comic story about voluntary return and reintegration. The comic targets 10- to 17-year-olds of diverse...

The Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration 2011 Annual Report outlines IOM’s work carried out during 2011 in the areas of ‘Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration’ (AVRR) and `Post-Arrival and Reintegration Assistance` (PARA) exclusively implemented in countries of origin to assist both migrants returning voluntarily with IOM and migrants returned...

Objective 21 of the Final Draft of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) addresses the process of expulsion, which, in the GCM, comprises three measures, notably return, readmission, and reintegration. Regarding return, states commit to facilitate safe and dignified return and to guarantee due process, individual assessment, and...

This document provides guidance for state authorities on the design and implementation of return procedures that are child rights compliant. In particular, it sets out concrete measures necessary to ensure respect for the rights of every child, including children in families, when implementing return legislation and policy in Europe, in line with...

Around the world, nearly 50 million children have migrated across borders or been forcibly displaced. This report presents – for the first time – comprehensive, global data about these children – where they are born, where they move and some of the dangers they face along the way. The report sheds light on the truly global nature of childhood migration and...

This training manual – developed by ILO and UNICEF under the UN Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking – seeks to aid governments, workers, employers, international, and non-governmental organizations that combat trafficking in children for labour, sexual and other exploitation.

The purpose of the field handbook is to provide operational guidance for child protection staff and all other actors working on prevention and response to family separation in emergencies. The handbook sets out to ensure that responses meet agreed inter-agency standards (where relevant), and are complementary. Moreover, it seeks to ensure that responses are...

The primary purpose of this handbook is to expand on project workers’ understanding of how to help trafficked children in schemes supported by members of the Terre des hommes International Federation (TdhIF) and their local partners. Ideally, the material will be useful more generally to other organisations or programmes for abused children. The handbook is...

The present research was conducted as part of the Project “Monitoring the situation of children returned from EU Member States” – co-funded by the European Union’s Return Fund – aiming to document, analyze and improve the situation of children that have been returned from European Union (‘EU’) Member States to six South-East European (‘SEE’) countries, by...

This Framework is intended to provide guidance to professionals after a decision has been made regarding the return of children – either as unaccompanied or as part of a family unit – to their own country of origin or to another, resettlement country. While consideration of pre-return processes is made, the framework does not explore issues related to the...

Le projet régional d’étude sur «les mobilités des enfants et des jeunes en Afrique de l’Ouest et du centre» est une initiative inter-agences inédite dans la sous-région. Porté par 8 agences régionales, le projet a été mis en oeuvre durant sa première phase (2009-2010) dans 4 pays d’Afrique de l’Ouest (Bénin, Burkina Faso, Guinée et Togo) 1, avec l’aide de...

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, States have an obligation to promote social re(integration) of any child victim of abuse and violence. This document describes “re(integration)” according to Tdh, presents the positioning of the organisation, elaborates on the various services needed and finally gives some indication on how they can...

The present joint general comment was adopted at the same time as joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families and No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on the general principles regarding the human rights of children in the context of...

Currently, there are millions of children globally who are currently separated from their families or communities of origin. A safe, secure family environment is widely recognized as the optimal environment for the growth of children and family reintegration is what the majority of these children and families want. Despite the importance of family...

A study on "best practices in the field of the return of minors" was carried out by ECRE, in strategic partnership with Save the Children, on behalf of the European Commission. The study looked at legislation and practice regarding the return of children, either unaccompanied or within families, who return voluntarily or are forced to return because of their...

We are in the midst of a profound ‘returns-first’ shift in the global politics of child displacement. In response to soaring numbers of displaced worldwide –68.5 million, of which more than half are children – governments around the world are increasingly pursuing strategies that promote returns over other alternatives such as resettlement and local...