Unaccompanied Minors

Austria > Minors

Unaccompanied minors should get special care, but since facilities are crowded they are sometimes being sent to accommodations for grown-ups, if over 16. Minors whose age is contested by the police or the asylum authorities and who cannot proof their age with reliable documents can be subject to an age assessment by doctors or medical experts as unaccompanied minors may get different treatment when it comes to deportation, living or other support than asylum seekers of full age.

Bulgaria > Minors

If you are an unaccompanied minor, detention is explicitly prohibited. According to the law, unaccompanied minors are appointed legal representatives and are accommodated with relatives, host families or other specialized institutions. However, in reality this provision is not applied.

Denmark > Minors

If you are an unaccompanied minor and wish to seek asylum in Denmark you will generally meet the same requirements as adult asylumseekers. However, unaccompanied minor asylum seekers are considered a vulnerable group, which means that unaccompanied minors will be housed in special accommodation centers and will be appointed a personal representative, who will support during the processing of the case.

France > Minors

France has the obligation to protect minors in difficulty, what means offering good living conditions, education, opportunities to learn a job. It is possible for minors who choose to stay in France to leave in a camp or in a family, to go to school or to learn a job, under the responsibility of the Childhood Social Help. More in a "Guide for Minors"...

Germany > Minors

This guide especially for minors provides an overview of your rights here in Germany. These rights apply to all minors (children and teenagers under the age of 18) independent of their origin, gender, religion, etc..

Greece > Minors

Minors are often held in detention what is officially not allowed. Their age is often changed by the authorities to make them older.

Italy > Minors

Lithuania > Minors

An unaccompanied minor in Lithuania is a person who is less than 18 years old and who arrived in Lithuania without parents or other legal guardians (or has been left without legal guardians after entering the country).

Netherlands > Minors

Unaccompanied minor (abbreviation in Dutch: AMV): When you are a minor you can also ask for asylum. If your asylum request gets rejected it is possible to obtain a regular residence permit which is valid only till your 18th birthday.

Spain > Minors

Since 2011, the authorities’ first goal is to deport minors back to their home countries.
This is only possible if the authorities can prove that you have family and know where
your family is staying.

Sweden > Minors

If you come to Sweden and are under 18 years old and come to Sweden without parents you count as an unaccompanied minor. There are special housings for children and youth. A guardian  is selected of you come to Sweden without a parent.