For thousands of migrant children and young people in Europe, turning 18 means transitioning into an uncertain future, with too few resources to navigate this phase of their life. Without a secure residence permit, undocumented young people, whether unaccompanied or in families, are prevented from doing most of the things that their peers do, like studying, working, or getting a driver’s license. Unaccompanied children, specifically, lose the protection they had from deportation and must often leave wherever they were living, and risk becoming homeless.

Yet too few countries have policies and procedures that prevent children from becoming undocumented adults once they turn 18. Too few provide access to longer term residence permits to children and young people transitioning into adulthood. Even when residence procedures do exist, they can be incredibly hard to access in practice.

In a recent report, we review the support undocumented migrant children and young people need and receive, and how governments treat them when they turn 18. In particular, the report provides an overview of how European countries (with a focus on Belgium, Germany, Greece, Spain, Sweden, and the UK) facilitate or hinder access to secure residence status. We call on states to support all children and young people in this vulnerable phase of life and prevent children from ageing out as undocumented adults by developing regularisation mechanisms and identifying a durable solution for all children.

A coalition of 35 international, European and national civil society organisations has issued a statement denouncing risks of human rights violations in the proposed reform of the Schengen Borders Code. In particular, the reform would allow the swift transfer of people who crossed the internal borders where there are “indications” that they crossed the border irregularly, without any individual assessment or procedural safeguard. Since systematic internal border controls are generally prohibited in the Schengen area, it is likely that the proposal will increase the illegal practice of racial and ethnic profiling in the EU.

The draft UK Nationality and Borders Bill includes several clauses that have been criticised for disregarding human rights, by both opposition and civil society. One of the most controversial aspects of the Bill is the transfer of asylum seekers to Rwanda, which was broadly criticized as unlawful. The first version of the draft bill further proposes to increase criminal sanctions against irregular entry, including imprisonment for up to four years, a fine, or both.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report revealing Greece’s use of proxies (often other migrants who are promised access to regular pathways in exchange for their cooperation) as police auxiliaries to enact pushbacks on the Greek-Turkish border. Notably, none of the 26 people interviewed by HRW were given a chance to lodge their asylum claim. HRW calls on the European Commission to open legal proceedings and hold the Greek government accountable for the illegal and violent pushbacks.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling for the protection of all children and young people fleeing Ukraine. In particular, the resolution calls on the member states to ensure all children, regardless of their migration status, are given equal access to education and health services, adequate housing, guardians and hygiene facilities. The text calls on the member states to urgently increase the funding of the European Child Guarantee with a dedicated budget of at least EUR 20 billion. The European Parliament also calls on the European Commission to work with the Ukrainian authorities to enable the release of young migrants and asylum seekers currently detained in immigration detention centers in Ukraine and to facilitate their safe evacuation.

The president of Rome-based migrants’ rights association Baobab Experience, Andrea Costa, is on trial on charges of “aiding and abetting illegal immigration”. The charges refer to facts that happened in 2016, when the organisation offered money to nine youths for bus and train tickets to reach the Red Cross camp in Ventimiglia, northern Italy. Costa could be facing six to eighteen years in prison. A court of first instance is scheduled to issue a sentence on the case on 3 May 2022.

The Polish government announced the release of thirteen Nigerian nationals from immigration detention, where they were being held after entering Poland from the Ukrainian border to flee from the war. The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission reported that the release happened with the intervention of the Nigerian mission in Poland. At least six African nationals are reported to continue being detained in Poland. African citizens, mostly international students studying in Ukraine at the start of the invasion, have reported racist behaviour from security officials amid evacuation efforts.

The Greek Ministry of Health has launched a campaign to improve access to COVID-19 vaccines for undocumented migrants, refugees and other marginalised groups. The initiative follows campaigning led by a coalition of Greek NGOs including INTERSOS Hellas, Greek Forum of Migrants and Greek Forum of Refugees. The campaign aims to ensure that undocumented migrants are aware of their right to access the vaccine; to tackle misinformation, fear and lack of trust in public authorities due to previous insufficient healthcare policies, and to ensure a national vaccination scheme that is inclusive and open to all.

On April 21, the Norwegian Parliament rejected a legislative proposal to improve the provision of health care services to undocumented migrants in Norway. The draft bill aimed to open access to primary health care, including GPs, to undocumented migrants. Currently, health care for undocumented migrants, except children and pregnant women, is limited to emergency care and health care that is necessary and cannot be deferred. In 2020, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights expressed concerns over Norway’s restrictions on the right to health for irregular migrants and recommended that Norway immediately ensure that undocumented migrants have access to primary health care services, and withdraw the regressive measures taken in 2011 to restrict undocumented migrants’ right to health care.

Government representatives of Member States of the WHO European, African and Eastern Mediterranean regions adopted a joint outcome statement at the end of the High-Level Meeting on Health and Migration (17–18 March 2022) which indicates that states should “strengthen the provision of universal health coverage, ensuring that all people who are present in the territory of the Member State, regardless of migration or citizenship status, have access to quality health care [...] without exposure to financial hardship”. As the WHO’s current Strategy and Action Plan on migrant health expires in 2022, the outcome statement will help design the vision for refugee and migrant health in the coming years in the WHO European region.

The International Labour Organisation published its first ever global compendium exclusively focused on irregular labour migration and the rights of migrant workers in irregular situations. The compendium provides an overview of relevant international law and guidance, and identifies practices of States, employers’ and workers` organizations that facilitate respect and promotion of the human rights of all migrant workers, regardless of status.

Two months after the regularisation scheme for long-term undocumented migrants was opened in Ireland, around 250 people have been able to obtain a residence permit that will allow them to regularise their status, remain in the country, and work regularly. The Irish Minister of Justice confirmed that more decisions would be issued soon. Since the new scheme opened in January 2022, around 5,000 people have applied to regularise their status in the country. Up to 17,000 people are estimated to be living undocumented in Ireland, including 3,000 children. 

Around 150 people living undocumented in Brussels set up a tent camp in Molenbeek, Brussels, to call for fair regularisation criteria for all. The participants denounced the double standards of Belgian authorities, who have been quick to provide protection and status to Ukrainians fleeing the war but are failing to recognise those who have been living and working in the country for years. The occupation ended on 3 May after a peaceful march to the Immigration Office.