Conference 10.03.2025 | National Gallery, Athens
From shadow to safety:
Sustainable solutions for unaccompanied children through the perspective of Guardianship
The issue of effective protection of unaccompanied children and the determination of their best interests is of concern to the entire European Union: The majority of these children remain in Europe and their future is often determined by the conditions they have experienced and the procedures applied by the country of first reception. The correct initial registration of their data on European territory, their direct accompaniment and support in order to find the best solution for each of these children is the responsibility of the first reception country, such as Greece.
If a child’s best interest is to be reunited with a family member or relocated for humanitarian reasons to another EU country, this is determined by the first reception country but it does not mean that it will be feasible, as the consent of other EU countries is always required. But even if the determination of the best solution for the child is accepted, it is important that it is implemented immediately: delays in family reunifications, as well as in decisions and in the implementation of measures for the relocation of unaccompanied children to other EU countries, when the host countries are in “crisis”, lead to a weakening of the much-needed Solidarity that is also provided for in the New Pact on Migration and Asylum.
What is the impact on unaccompanied children, on the institutions that take care of them, on the already overburdened infrastructure of the host country, of the delay in placing children in a framework that is the best solution for their further development? What are the specific challenges, both at points of entry and in the mainland?
How important is the role of the Guardians in ensuring the rights of unaccompanied children and how far does this institution meet the requirements of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum?
The conference “From Shadow to Safety: sustainable solutions for unaccompanied children through the perspective of the Guardianship”, organized by METAdrasi with the support of Family For Every Child, sheds light on aspects that have hardly been highlighted, although they are of crucial importance.
Through METAdrasi’s study on family reunification (Dublin III), the findings of which will be presented for the first time at the conference, it emerges that 30 to 40% of unaccompanied children arriving in our country are cases of family reunification with their relatives in other countries of the European Union. The lack of common, stable criteria for the acceptance of reunification requests enables the countries of destination of the children to require additional bureaucratic procedures, often excessive, from the host countries, resulting in the inability to respond and the “cancellation” of reunifications of children.
The New Pact on Migration and Asylum is expected to enter into force on the 1st of July 2026. In this context, the fact that Greece has already started implementing the institution of Guardianship, places us among the countries that will export experience and know-how to Europe. The role of the Guardian is crucial and it is important to highlight the challenges and proposals for improvement in order to further strengthen this institution and lead every unaccompanied child “from shadow to safety”.
Find the programme of the conference here.