On 9 September, the Foundation for Access to Rights - FAR held an event to launch the Practitioners' Handbook on Safeguarding Unaccompanied and Separated Children's Rights through the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The event brought together experts from the United Nations Refugee Agency, the International Organization for Migration, the State Agency for Refugees, the State Agency for Child Protection, the Social Assistance Agency, the National Legal Aid Bureau, the Migration Directorate of the Ministry of Interior, the Foundation for Social Change and Inclusion, the Legal Aid Centre "Voice in Bulgaria", SOS Children's Villages Bulgaria, Animus Association Foundation, and For the Good Foundation.
The handbook was developed in the framework of the SUN project - Safeguarding Unaccompanied and Separated Children's Rights through the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights by FAR and the project partners: ARSIS, Greece; Tdh, Romania; NIDOS, Netherlands; Sirius Network (international network based in Belgium); Volontarius, Italy and CCAR, Spain. The project is funded by the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme of the European Commission.
The aim of the event was not only to present the Handbook, but also to give participants the opportunity to discuss important challenges they face in their daily work.
The event was moderated by the Chairperson and manager of FAR, lawyer Valeria Ilareva, PhD. FAR lawyers - Magdalena Miteva, Kaloyan Stoyanov, Valery Petkov and Yanka Kosarova presented the topics: Right to Asylum and Procedural Guarantees for UASC, Right to family life and family reunification of UASC, Access to education and Access to adequate accommodation and social security.
The event was met with great interest by the participants who shared the need for more frequent opportunities for discussion between professionals from different fields and exchange of practical information. The handbook was highly appreciated - according to the event participants it is practical, interactive and engaging, the information is presented in a concise, clear and accessible manner, it contains useful links to other sources of information as well as numerous tables, graphs and visualizations.
According to the event participants, when looking at services for refugee children, all the problems of the child protection system and the process of deinstitutionalization become even more visible. Perhaps the biggest problem is the limited number of social services for unaccompanied and separated children.
During the event, various good practices from the partner countries were presented and discussed, such as the mandatory language courses for refugee children immediately after their arrival and their inclusion in vocational training courses, the placement of young people in supported/ semi-independent housing, centres to develop various practical and artistic skills combined with psychological support for children with traumatic experiences.
In Bulgaria there are also good practices that are implemented by different NGOs working in the country. For example, SOS Children's Villages family homes accommodate unaccompanied refugee children who are very well integrated.
An important part of the event was the virtual presentation of Lawyer Konstantinos Kirmanidis from ARSIS, who presented good practices and challenges faced by professionals working with unaccompanied children in Greece.
The event was closed with the conclusion that there has been a positive change in Bulgaria in recent years in terms of respecting the rights of unaccompanied and separated refugee and migrant children. The Hanbook prepared within the SUN project will further lead to a positive development in this field.
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The Safeguarding Unaccompanied and Separated Children’s Rights through the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights – SUN project is funded by the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme of the European Commission. The European Commission does not accept any responsibility for the information presented as it reflects solely the views of the project authors. Project Number: 101084990.
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