Unaccompanied Migrant Children – Their Rights and the Challenge for the State

Abstract

An unaccompanied migrant minor is deemed to be exceptionally vulnerable for the following reasons: she/he is a child, frequently an irregular migrant, separated from parents or other legal guardians and thus exposed to a greater risk of a violation of her/his rights, inter alia, the risk of being physically or sexually exploited. Some of the issues most likely to contribute to that vulnerability of migrant minors are: the lack of precise data on migrant children, the unresolved issue of “missing children”, the often vague and lengthy procedures of age assessment, and last not least the lack of political will and of economic resources by the State.