Activities of Alf SVENSSON related to 2012/2263(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the situation of unaccompanied minors in the EU
Amendments (4)
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Recalls the vital importance of the principle of ‘the best interests of the child’need to consider children as particularly vulnerable and emphasizes that the principle of ‘the best interests of the child’ must take precedence over all other considerations when dealing with unaccompanied minors;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Points to the obvious protection gap at EU level as regards the reception of and provision of assistance to unaccompanied minors; recalls in this context that ensuring the security and health of unaccompanied minors, regardless of the length of their stay in the EU, is the responsibility of the respective Member States; considers that, in view of this, the EU should introduce a common and binding regulatory framework with clear rules to address the challenge in its entirety, in order to correct the current shortcomings and the disparities existing between Member States;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls for an increase in EU funding to address this problem; regrets that child protection is significantly and consistently underfunded in comparison with other humanitarian sectors; encourages all Member States to establish practices to safeguard unaccompanied minors' access to human rights, as well as the right to health and the right to education, as established in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls for improved cooperation between the countries of origin, transit and destination on issues such as family tracing, monitored return, reintegration and identification of suitable solutions, with a view to advancing towards a common EU approach and establishing lasting solutions; encourages exchanges of information and good practices as well as special training of border staff and authorities on how to sensitively deal with children with traumatic backgrounds; considers that the EU must go beyond the Action Plan proposed by the Commission so that the fundamental rights of unaccompanied minors are genuinely reinforced; stresses, in particular, the need to strengthen the status of ‘legal guardian’ in the EU and partner countries, and considers it extremely important to draw up a monitoring plan in cooperation with countries of origin and any transit countries in order to ensure that the child is properly protected after returning to and being reintegrated into the country of origin;