In a world marked by prejudice, contradictions, and increasing hostility toward those seen as foreigners, finding a place in a new land is especially challenging for people who are forced to flee their homes. Among the most vulnerable are unaccompanied minors, who cross borders alone not by choice but out of necessity — often driven by war, persecution, poverty, exploitation, or environmental disasters and in search of safety, protection, and the possibility of a better future.
Nowadays, unaccompanied migrant children face significant challenges due to their age, separation from family, and distance from home. They are particularly vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, and psychological trauma, and often struggle to access essential services like education, healthcare, and legal support — increasing their risk of marginalization.
Moreover, the number of children crossing EU borders unaccompanied by a responsible adult has grown significantly in recent years, posing a critical challenge for migration and child protection systems. In 2023, 41,000 applications for asylum were lodged by self-claimed unaccompanied minors across EU+ countries since 2015 and according to Eurostat statistics 2023, first-time applicants below the age of 18 in Cyprus reached the number of 2135 – compared to just 224 UACs in 2016.
In this context, Cyprus has established a legal framework to address the needs of unaccompanied minors, based on the Refugee Law (Law No.6(I) of 2000, as amended), the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (ratified in 1991), and the European Convention on the Exercise of Children’s Rights (ratified in 2005), allowing them to receive special protection during their stay in Cyprus – characterized above all by the assistance and support of the guardians. Guardians appointed by the Social Welfare Services (SWS) play a key role in guiding them through complex procedures, providing legal, emotional, and practical assistance, and most importantly ensuring their rights are protected in a safe and inclusive environment.
Despite these efforts, several challenges in this field persist in EU countries impacting the protection of children’s rights, such as lack of specialized training for guardians, limited human resources, and the absence of formal separation between guardianship and care functions. This highlights the need to strengthen the guardianship framework in line with European standards and directives. Indeed, the EU has recognized the vulnerability of these children and the need to provide them with additional protection in terms of identification and registration, access to information and legal assistance, reception and accommodation, education, healthcare, as well as guardianship.
With a special focus on the role of guardians, HFC is currently implementing a project co-funded by the European Union on enhancing the knowledge and skills required to expand child protection expertise and ensure the child’s best interests. The GUARD-UP project turns its attention to strengthen guardianship system to better support unaccompanied children across six countries – including Greece, Italy, Poland, Cyprus, Croatia and Belgium and represents a strategic and innovative initiative designed to enhance child’s care protection. It focusses on building the capacity of guardians and key stakeholders (government agencies, NGOs, community organizations, legal staff etc.), reviewing existing practices, promoting knowledge exchange, resources, and monitoring and evaluating the project's activities on a regular basis to ensure long-term sustainability.
Fully aligned with the EU's strategic documents, action plans, and legislative context, HFC has already promoted the exchange of good practices and knowledge-sharing among guardians, resulting in a comprehensive and unified best practices document based on the mapping of guardianship systems in six participating countries and seven child rights and participation standards, which will be published at a later stage of the project. Activities have also included interviews with experts from the Social Welfare Services of Cyprus, a review of the national legal and policy framework, and study visits to the Netherlands and Greece, facilitating promising practices for EU-wide application. Additionally, HFC is currently participating in the development of a training package based on a structured, education-driven approach, guided by a training needs assessment to strengthen the capacities of both guardians and stakeholders, and equip them with the necessary tools for effective support.
On this basis, World Refugee Day reminds us of the collective duty to uphold the fundamental values of human dignity, justice, and equality, particularly for refugee and migrant children. It calls for renewed commitment to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 1951 Geneva Convention, and its 1967 Protocol. More specifically, it calls for reaffirming our dedication to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), and ensuring full respect for the rights of migrant children arriving in European countries, at both national and regional level.
Given the growing number of children arriving in Europe and the importance of offering them effective and comprehensive protection, World Refugee Day thus serves as a powerful reminder to all EU countries to adopt a unified system —one that can support and guide these children through this new phase of life.
Today more than ever, this need takes on even greater significance and highlights the pivotal role of guardians in supporting unaccompanied minors and safeguarding their best interests, which lies at the very heart of the GUARD-UP project.
If you are interested in learning more about the project and the topic, visit our GUARD-UP web page and continue to defend with us the right of every unaccompanied child to fair and adequate protection.