First contact
Registration
Identification
Accomodation
First assistance
Age assessment
Family tracing
Relocation
Case assessment
Care planning Life project
Education and training
Work
Health care
Residence permit
Asylum procedure
Best interests determination
Identification of a durable solution
Implementation of a durable solution
Family reunification
Preventing Immigration detention
Turning 18: Leaving care
Aftercare
Ending guardianship
Ending guardianship
The
guardian supports the child until a durable solution has been implemented, in
accordance with the best interests of the child. In practice, guardianship ends
when the child reaches the age of majority, is reunited with their parents or
leaves the country permanently. The guardian should speak to the child and
inform the child about the end of their formal mandate, ensure all preparatory
work is completed in due time and make a safety and support plan with and for
the child to guide and orient the child in the period after the guardian’s
mandate has come to an end.
Where
transfer or relocation to another EU Member State, or return to the country of
origin, has been determined to be in the best interests of the child, the
guardian should continue supporting the child during the actual transfer,
relocation or return and ascertain that a new guardian is appointed and
effectively supporting the child in the place of destination or the child is
effectively reunited with their parents. To facilitate continuity in this
context, guardianship authorities should cooperate with their counterparts in other
EU Member States and countries of origin and support individual guardians in
securing the rights of the child across borders.
If
a child goes missing, the guardian remains responsible for the child and has to
ensure the missing child is reported to the competent authorities and the
missing children hotlines (116 000).
A court order or comparable decision by
a competent authority is required to formally end the guardianship of an
unaccompanied child.
See
also:
Level 4: Age and evolving capacities of
the child
Level 5: Mandate and tasks of the
guardian
Reference:
EU training and learning platform for guardians of
unaccompanied children
Chapter 3: Session 3.2. From arrival to durable solution: promoting the best interests of the child in decisions and proceedings
Literature:
Council
of Europe (2007), Recommendation CM/Rec(2007)9 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on life projects for
unaccompanied migrant minors.
Council
of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (1996), Migrant Children: what rights at18?, Resolution 1996 (2014).
Council of the Baltic Sea States (2015),
Guidelines on the Human Rights and Best Interests of the Child in Transnational Situations, Council of the Baltic Sea States Children’s Unit and
Expert Group for Cooperation on Children at Risk, Stockholm, 2015.
Drammeh,
L. (2010), Life projects for unaccompanied migrant minors,
A handbook for front-line professionals,
Council of Europe, Migration Collection, Strasbourg.
FRA (European Agency for Fundamental Rights)
(2014), Guardianship for children deprived of parental care, A handbook to reinforce guardianship systems to
cater for the specific needs of child victims of trafficking, Luxembourg, Publications
Office of the European Union (Publications Office).
United Nations General Assembly (2010), Guidelines for the alternative care of children,
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on the report of the Third Committee
(A/64/434) 64/142, 24 February 2010.
United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Council of Europe (2014), Unaccompanied and Separated Asylum-Seeking and Refugee Children Turning Eighteen, What tocelebrate?, Strasbourg.