Supporting the Fulfillment of Rights of Specific Asylum-Seeking Groups

VOICESproject

Our guardianship capacity-building workshop.

The project (2013-2014) targeted the needs and rights of specific groups of asylum-seekers: unaccompanied minors and separated children, and LGBTI asylum-seekers.

It was a combination of direct services to these groups of persons, strenghtening and increasing the capacity of existing service-providers and the drafting of detailed & analytical expert reports on the extent to which the human rights these groups are being recognised and enjoyed.

The project saw us implement the following:

  1. publication of a technical report on the situation of unaccompanied minors/separated children, with a particular focus on the age assessment procedure and legal guardianship

  2. organisation of a capacity-building workshop for service-providers, government agencies and NGOs on legal guardianship

  3. provision of legal information and advice to LGBTI asylum-seekers, in the context of the asylum procedure & integration/relocation opportunities

  4. organisation of a training seminar for LGBTI-supporting NGOs on basic refugee law and policy

  5. technical liaison with on-going governmental efforts at revising national legislation on children

  6. organisation of an NGO side-event to the IDAHO conference (May 2014). Our side-event Protection SOGI asylum-seekers and refugees explored the new protection opportunities presented in the recast EU asylum Directives and assessed how best to identify and protect SOGI applicants & refugees

  7. publication of an analysis of proposed legislation to regulate the protection of children receiving out-of-home care.

Both above-mentioned publications will feed into our advocacy efforts to improve the protection of UAMs in Malta.

Project documentation can be downloaded here:

Unaccompanied Minor Asylum-Seekers in Malta: A Technical Report on Age Assessment and Guardianship Procedures

Child Protection (Out of Home Care) Bill: What Protection for Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children?

The project was supported by the Voices Foundation.

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