Separated, asylum-seeking children in European Union Member States. Comparative report

This report examines the experiences and views of separated, asylum seeking children and those of adults responsible for their care across 12 European Union Member States. It addresses the need to incorporate children’s views and accounts of their experiences into work that seeks to inform policy action. The FRA research results fill a gap in current knowledge about how separated, asylum-seeking children from different national, ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds live in the European Union, by asking them directly about their opinions and experiences. It is based on fieldwork research which was outsourced to the International Organisation of Migration (IOM). The fieldwork research included 336 separated children from different countries – mainly originating from Afghanistan (22%), Morocco (just over 10%), Somalia (also just over 10%) and Iraq (9%) – as well as 302 adults responsible for assisting or working with these children, comprising care workers, social workers, teachers, psychologists, health specialists, legal guardians, legal practitioners, government officials – including law enforcement officers – interpreters and researchers. The fieldwork was carried out during 2009 in Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Hungary, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom