Approaches to unaccompanied minors following status determination in Lithuania

ENNumber and socio-demographic characteristics of unaccompanied minors. During the period under consideration, namely, from January 2014 until December 2017, 110 non-asylum seeking unaccompanied minors entered Lithuania. It is noteworthy that the number of unaccompanied minors entering each year has been decreasing: in 2014 – 50, in 2015 – 25, in 2016 – 23, in 2017 – 12. Most of the unaccompanied minors were citizens of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. During the specified period, 10 asylum-seeking unaccompanied minors entered Lithuania: in 2014 – 5, in 2015 – 3, in 2016 – 1, in 2017 – 1 (4 unaccompanied minors were citizens of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 4 – citizens of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, 1 – a citizen of the Republic of India, 1 – a citizen of the Syrian Arab Republic). One unaccompanied minor was granted refugee status, while the other 9 unaccompanied minors disappeared. More than 80 % of the unaccompanied minors were boys. Main challenges related to care/integration/return of unaccompanied minors. Almost all unaccompanied minors abscond immediately after being accommodated at the Refugee Reception Centre (RRC) and measures that are in place to prevent the disappearance of the unaccompanied minors have not been effective. The majority of the unaccompanied minors are citizens of Vietnam who are apprehended without being in possession of identity documents and introduce themselves as minors, therefore they are accommodated at the RRC, although officers have doubts as to their true age. Their true age is not determined, as they quickly abscond from the RRC. These unaccompanied minors usually do not apply for asylum. They enter mainly for economic reasons with the aim of travelling to Western European countries for work, reunification with family/relatives or joining the migrant community in other EU Member States.The tracing of family members is a lengthy process, and authorities do not manage to trace family members before unaccompanied minors abscond. Most important recent or planned changes to law, policy and practice. The new Description of the Procedure Concerning Non Asylum Seeking Unaccompanied Minors has been approved on 23 April 2014. This legislation regulates the procedure for interviewing, assessing age, tracing family members or other legal representatives, taking into and terminating temporary guardianship/custody, accommodating such aliens at the Refugee Reception Centre, providing healthcare services to them and determining their legal status. It is important to point out that until the adoption of the legislation, the issues concerning the conduct of interviews of these unaccompanied minors, their age assessment, tracing of family members and provision with accommodation were not regulated by any legal acts. Amendments to provisions of the Description of the Procedure Concerning Non-Asylum Seeking Unaccompanied Minors, as referred to in point 1, came into force on 15 June 2016. The amendments introduced the regulation of accommodation of UAMs at the RRC. According to the regulation in force until then, i.e., since 23 April 2014, non-asylum seeking unaccompanied minors were accommodated at the RRC by a court decision providing an alternative to detention. Meanwhile, upon adoption of the new version of the Description, a decision on the accommodation of such an unaccompanied minor is taken by the State Child Rights Protection and Adoption Service. Challenges and good practices. The main challenge associated with unaccompanied minors in Lithuania is the fact that almost all unaccompanied minors disappear from the RRC in the course of a week from the beginning of their accommodation.The fact that the provisions stipulated in Lithuanian legal acts regarding the return of minors are more favourable compared to the Return Directive should be considered as an example of good practices. The LLSA sets forth strict requirements for the quality of reception. Thus, Lithuanian legal acts provide for the return of a child not just to a formally adequate reception facility, but to a facility where the child will be duly taken care of taking into consideration his/her needs, age and level of independence. Suggestions for EU level action on unaccompanied minors that might be useful for Lithuania. As some unaccompanied minors abscond from the Centre and find themselves in more distant European Union Member States assisted by smugglers, it would be appropriate to combat at EU level the smuggling of unaccompanied minors and to join efforts of several countries in carrying out pre-trial investigations in order to identify the persons responsible for the smuggling of the unaccompanied minors and to prevent such criminal acts.