Returns at Any Cost: Spain's Push to Repatriate Unaccompanied Children in the Absence of Safeguards

Human Rights Watch has previously documented that unaccompanied children in Spain face detention upon arrival and may face abuses in residential centers, and
expulsion without due process to countries where they are at risk of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. This report identifies a fundamental flaw in Spain’s repatriation of unaccompanied migrant and refugee children: the government’s failure to provide children with independent legal representation during repatriation procedures. This gap in protection leaves children unable to challenge decisions that fundamentally affect their lives and may result in children sent back to situations where their well-being is at risk. Adult migrants, in contrast, receive free legal assistance from lawyers in a deportation procedure.