Caught in the middle: Safe Passage-PRAKSIS full report on lone children in the reunification process available

Lord Alf Dubs visiting a refugee camp in on the island of Lesbos in Greece

Following the disseminated summarised version of ‘Caught in the middle’ in March 2019 the full report of Caught in the middle on unaccompanied asylum seeking children in Greece trying to reunify with family is available and describes the obstacles, delays and challenges children often face while waiting to join family, sometimes resulting in them absconding from the process and being put anew in danger of smuggling, trafficking etc.

While the reception system is put under intense strain, first reception sites such as Lesvos, Samos operate way above capacity and there is shortage of appropriate child accommodation, children may have to wait for long under intolerable conditions until they reach appropriate accommodation and often become retraumatised later by delays, uncertainty or unfounded rejections of their family reunification requests.

The full report is based on extensive research of 80 cases of unaccompanied children's family reunification case files housed in PRAKSIS shelters across Greece. It makes an in- depth analysis of practices in Dublin family reunification processes across 14 different receiving European States, identifies challenges in the implementation of the Dublin regulation and the impact on unaccompanied children and highlights some good practices identified. It finally concludes with recommendations at a European and national level.

This research is a fine exhibit of the need for European Governments to step up their efforts for the proper implementation of the reunification process. European States involved should enhance cooperation, refrain from administrative practices that unnecessarily hamper the swift completion of the reunification process and allow children to be reunited with their family in a safe, legal and speedy way.