Tunisia- Migrant children in Tunisia need emergency care mechanisms

Migrant children in Tunisia need emergency care mechanisms but also medium- and long-term solutions that Tunisia is struggling to implement, said the organisation “Terre d’asile Tunisie” in a document announcing the organisation to hold an international online conference on children and migration in the Maghreb region on June 25-26. They are children aged between 14 and 18 of very diverse nationalities, some of whom have fled Libya, says Terre d’asile Tunisie.

Although the Tunisian legal framework protects all children without distinction of nationality, migrant minors remain in a legal void between child protection and the law on foreigners, according to the same source.

Despite the existence of public child protection services, the procedures and approaches to a child’s access to emergency and integration services are lengthy, complicated and inappropriate, the organisation points out.

According to the same source, accompanied minors and/or minors born in Tunisia also present vulnerabilities linked to the irregular status of their parents when it is the case, and to the risk of separation in the event of arrest.

According to Terre d’asile Tunisie, the situation of migrant children in Tunisia has not been the subject of a specific vision in the draft national migration strategy.

More generally, little attention has been paid to them until 2018, when the number of migrant minors, especially unaccompanied minors, has risen sharply.

In this connection, an international online symposium will be held on June 25-26 on the theme “Childhood and migration in the Maghreb region: Between assistance and sustainable solutions.”

The colloquium will bring together numerous representatives of civil society organisations in Tunisia, Libya, Algeria and Morocco who will speak on issues pertaining to the problems encountered by migrant children in the Maghreb region.

The speakers will clarify the legal frameworks and provide a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon of child migration.

They will exchange on challenges and good practices in terms of assistance and integration of migrant children, and on means of action at regional and national level.

Source:(TAP)