Council conclusions on unaccompanied minors 3018th Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting

After a public debate, the Council adopted conclusions on the subject of unaccompanied minors coming to the EU regardless of whether they are asylum seekers, illegal migrants or victims of trafficking in human beings.

The conclusions address particularly the following five issues:

• knowledge of the phenomenon (e.g. improving data collection);
• prevention of unsafe migration and trafficking in human beings (e.g. financing of
  preventive actions at local level; training for border guards);
• reception and procedural guarantees (e.g. assessing whether the current EU legislation
  offers unaccompanied minors sufficient protection to guarantee that minors are treated as
  such; quick decisions in the best interest of the child; exchange of best-practice guidelines;
  combating the phenomenon of disappearance);
• cooperation with third countries (e.g. relevant agreements; cooperation on prevention,
  family tracing, return to the family or to reception centres and reintegration in the countries
  of origin or return);
• return and reintegration in the country of origin (e.g. making a study of existing practices
  and legislation throughout the EU; practical cooperation between member states, countries
  of origin as well as international and non-governmental organisations; financing of special
  reception centres).

In September 2009, the Council agreed that all member states would benefit from the development of common approaches and increased cooperation with countries of origin, including cooperation to facilitate minors’ return. The Stockholm Programme, adopted in December 2009, welcomed the Commission’s initiative to develop an action plan on this issue which supplements the relevant legislative and financial instruments and combines measures directed at prevention, protection and assisted return. The Commission adopted the communication on the action plan on 6 May 2010.