A study conducted by Save the Children and UNHCR calls for improvements in the reception of migrant minors in Italy, highlighting a genuine lack of guardians for unaccompanied migrant minors, and an overhaul in the procedures involved in the reception system.

The three year partnership between the two organizations focused on various administrative steps along the way to placing migrant minors with local guardians, highlighting that establishing the age and identity of underage migrants and finding volunteer guardians were among the biggest hurdles.

The project, titled "Voluntary Guardianship, Age Assessment, and Psychological Support: Steps Beyond" aims to improve the overall protection system for unaccompanied migrant minors in Italy, focusing on ways to strengthen the national protection and reception system.

Closer cooperation needed

The study was based on discussions with unaccompanied migrant minors themselves, but also examined the role play by key actors in the reception system, including government institutions, the private sector, and international organizations.

I stressed that the most recent regulatory interventions introduced in Italy in 2023 and 2024 had been a setback for the reception of underage migrants, in particular in the Italian regions that serve as the main irregular migration entry hubs to the country: the coastline of Sicily and other islands under its administrative control in the south, and the Friuli-Venezia Giulia border in the north.

Preserving the dignity -- and rights -- of children

One of the specific problems that came to light was that the placing of unaccompanied foreign minors over the age of 16 in facilities for adults was problematic and likely not in compliance with international standards.

Another issue that was observed was the fact that there were no universal standards applied to age verification methods, despite the adoption of a national protocol to this end in 2020.

The study highlighted the problematic use of invasive techniques such as radiography and anthropometric measurements to establish the age of individuals presenting as minors, stressing that this was in violation to their personal dignity while also showing lack of respect for children's rights.

The minors that were interviewed as part of the study also noted problems linked to bureaucratic errors during this identification phase.

Moreover, the documents also emphasises that in both Friuli-Venezia-Giulia and Sicily, there is a serious lack of volunteer guardians, leading to an overburdening of the guardians that are available.