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Mexico, 61 Romania, 62 Senegal, 63 Sweden 64 and the United Kingdom, 65 and likewise in
Finland, Iceland and Norway. 66 In Colombia, migration guidelines establish that
undocumented unaccompanied and separated migrant children should, upon entering
the country, be referred to child protection services to guarantee their rights. 67
Similarly, in the Philippines, at arrival, undocumented children are referred to the
Department of Social Welfare and Development, which provides guardianship and
access to shelter and essential services. 68 These initiatives highlight the importance
of focusing on strengthening existing national protection systems and improving
access for migrant children.
Family-based care options, including foster care
49. Family-based care refers to care for a child in a family-like situation. Where a
child is temporarily or permanently deprived of her or his family environment, and
after assessing the child’s best interests, he or she may be placed, by a competent
authority, with a family other than the child’s own family, that has been selected,
qualified, approved and supervised for providing such care. The family -based care
option, including foster care, is considered to be one of the most appropriate forms of
care, and provides individualized support to unaccompanied migrant children. Studies
show that children placed in foster care are more satisfied with their living
environments and better integrated into local communities.
50. Foster care for migrant children exists in many countries, including Belgium,
Bulgaria, Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United
States of America. 69 In Ireland, all newly arriving separated children under the age of
12 are placed in foster care, while those over the age of 12 are placed in one of three
residential intake units in Dublin that are registered children’s homes. After
assessment, children are placed in the most appropriate placement option, the most
prevalent form being with a foster family. 70 In 2019, Mexico launched a pilot foster
care programme as part of its efforts towards ending the detention of migrant children
in the country. 71 In Ethiopia, a pilot project in the Shire refugee camps placed
unaccompanied children in foster families. 72
Community-based care arrangements
51. Community-based care arrangements include a broad range of approaches
designed to allow migrant children without parental care to live in a family setting
within a community and benefit from various supportive services. In Que bec, Canada,
for example, asylum seekers and unaccompanied or separated children are assigned a
social worker to assess their protection and care needs, make referrals for their
adequate support and accommodation and guide the child through the asylum
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Submission by Mexico.
Submission by Romania.
Submission by Senegal.
Submission by Sweden.
Submission by the United Kingdom Committee for UNICEF (UNICEF UK).
UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti, Protected on Paper? An analysis of Nordic country
responses to asylum-seeking children (Florence, Italy, 2018), p. 39.
Submission by Colombia.
Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network and International Detention Coalition, Capacity -building
workshop on alternatives to detention, Jakarta, 2013.
Nidos, Reception and living in families: overview of family-based reception for unaccompanied
minors in the EU Member States (Utrecht, the Netherlands, 2015); submissions by the American
Psychological Association, by Denmark and by Greece.
Submission by Ireland.
Submission by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Submission by Lumos.
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