Advancing Protection of Unaccompanied Children in Europe, by strengthening legal assistance

Child Circle worked in partnership with KIND Europe and its partners to advance protection for unaccompanied children through strengthening legal assistance.

In the face of significant gaps in legal representation of unaccompanied children, KIND Europe and its partners (European Lawyers in Lesvos, the Immigrant Council of Ireland and the Irish Refugee Council, the Alliance of Lawyers for Human Rights in France, and partners in KIND UK) are now working together to enhance legal assistance for unaccompanied children in Europe through enhancing pro bono private law sector representation in these cases by closely training and mentoring private sector lawyers.

Drawing on the experience of KIND and its partners, Child Circle’s role in the partnership was to identify EU action and engage with EU policymakers and stakeholders to pursue improvements in law, policy and practice at EU level for the protection of unaccompanied children, in through strengthening legal assistance.

We set out a joint vision for progress, key recommendations for EU action and a call for action in our report on Advancing Protection for Unaccompanied Children in Europe, through strengthening legal assistance (published January 2021). We also published a report on improving safeguards for children in migration in cross border situations, in particular in relocation procedures, in our report Stepping Stones to Safety. In March 2022, the KIND Child Circle briefing note on children fleeing Ukraine identified key issues and challenges to address. We also published recommendations to the EU in light of the CEAS reform, focussing on children at the external borders.