Zorica Trikic, ISSA's Senior Programme Manager attended the presentation of the report called Let Children be Children: Lessons from the Field on the Protection and Integration of Refugee and Migrant Children in Europe which was launched on December 4th, 2017. This new report, produced by Eurochild and SOS Children’s Villages, offers 16 inspiring practices that showcases how the child protection services are responding to the needs of refugee and migrant children in Europe. 

During the discussion Zorica pointed out that it would be necessary to develop more compendiums like this, and that one of them should focus on the situation of the youngest refugee children and their families. "We must not let policy makers and other relevant stakeholders forget about their situation and the burning needs they have. As the early years professionals we need to flag all the time the importance of meaningful interventions in the first years of child’s life  which will protect them and their families from potentially devastating effects of the situations they experienced".

The report acts as a resource to support practitioners and national and EU level advocacy towards policy makers.

"As children represent today a quarter of all asylum-seekers arriving in Europe, we need more than ever to ensure that they are treated first and foremost as children, regardless of their or their parents’ migration status. In the context of international migration, the rights of the child should have primacy. The principle of non-discrimination should be respected, and the best interests of the child shall be a primary considerations in all actions or decisions concerning children." (Benyam Dawit Mezmur, Member of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child)

Photo: Davide Rambaldi © Eurochild