Migrant Children in Europe

The rights of children are outlined in article 24 of the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union; the binding catalogue of rights which institutions and member states are bound to respect when applying EU law. Although this article has undoubtedly been taken very seriously since the Charter was adopted in 2000, there are indications that in a number of cases it has not been possible for children in the EU to exercise fully the rights it envisaged. One such case involves migrating Romanian children, and concerns have been expressed that the rights of this group of migrant children have not always been fully taken into account. This book is the result of the two-year project "Children’s rights in Action", funded by the European Union, which focuses on the needs of children migrating from Romania to Italy and Spain in order to identify good practices, reduce their vulnerability and protect their rights. The book presents the impact that limited access to the rights guaranteed by EU law have had on the actual conditions of life for Romanian children in migration across Europe. Although the book shows that the rights enshrined in article 24 of the EU Charter are not yet fully and equally ensured in some EU countries, it also describes the ways in which local communities and civil society actors have often operated to fill the gap and enabled such children to exercise their rights despite legislative and political shortcomings.