On the occasion of the International Day of Missing Children, a guide is released to prevent the disappearance of unaccompanied minors
Today, the Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor, the Minister of the Interior Annelies Verlinden, Fedasil, Child Focus, the Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons, and the Guardianship Service presented together a guide aimed at preventing and resolving the disappearance of unaccompanied foreign minors.
Last year, 6434 unaccompanied minors were registered in Belgium, of which 3876 applied for asylum. But, regularly, minors disappear. Last year, Fedasil recorded 297 disappearances of minors from its centres.
The guide provides all departments with concrete guidance on how to prevent disappearances and what to do if they occur. Among other actions, the guide invites actors to:
- Encourage minors as much as possible to opt for accommodation, even if they do not wish to;
- Pay attention to signs which reveal an increased risk of disappearance. For example: the young person arrived in Belgium with the help of smugglers, he comes from a vulnerable background and has attachment problems, he distrusts official institutions, he arrived with a group of which other people have already disappeared;
- Maintain regular contact between the guardian and the minor;
- If there are serious signs of trafficking, discuss the young person's situation with a center specializing in human trafficking;
- List the youth's networks, seek contacts among family members and key support figures;
- Discuss with the young person and see if he has plans to leave and what is the origin of this initiative.
For further information, please read the press release from Fedasil (in French or in Dutch) and the guide (in French or in Dutch) below.