07/02/2024
STATEMENTS FROM THE CONGRESS
STATEMENT 1:
Asylum-seeking Children's Legal Security
Exploitation of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children is a serious and complex problem that can have major consequences for the children's health, development and future. Exploitation can mean that the children are exposed to violence, abuse, forced labour, crime, prostitution, or human trafficking. Exploitation can also be more subtle, such as exploiting the children's vulnerability, trust, dependence, or loyalty for financial or other gain. Exploitation can take place in the children's home country, during the journey or in the target country. More than 10000 asylum-seeking children have disappeared in Europe these last years. Our countries are not doing enough to prevent this or find the children who are missing.
Children's legal security varies between different countries and areas in Europe, and there are still many challenges and shortcomings that need to be addressed. Some of these are:
• Lack of knowledge and awareness of children's legal security among children themselves, their parents, professionals, and decision-makers.
• Lack of implementation and monitoring of the existing conventions and guidelines for children's legal security at the national and local levels.
• Failure to adapt and facilitate the legal systems for children's needs, interests and abilities, so that they can understand and participate in legal processes in a meaningful way.
• Lack of resources and competence among those who work with children in the legal system, such as judges, lawyers, child welfare workers, social workers, police and others.
• Lack of cooperation and coordination between various actors and sectors involved in children's legal security, such as justice, child welfare, health, education and civil society.
In order to strengthen children's legal security in Europe, a comprehensive and cross-sectoral approach is therefore necessary, involving children, parents, professionals, decision-makers and other relevant actors. There is also a need for more research, knowledge sharing, training, guidance, and good practice in this field.
We need to take action now. Wake up governments! Give the asylum-seeking children the security all children should have without any questions at all.
STATEMENT TWO:
The Situation in Gaza
Children all over the world are our children, and we care for all of them. The organizations in ABN (Arbetarrørelsens barnorganisasationer i Norden) are extremely worried about the situation in Gaza. Life there is unbearable at the moment for all the civilians, and no one should accept the disproportionate attack from Israel against the Palestinians. We are standing in front of a situation that will be unforgivable in the future if we don't contribute to stopping the war now.
Nearly 50% of the population in Gaza are children under 18 years old. It's crucial that human rights and international treaties must be respected. Listen to their cry and let the children live!
