Conciliating National Provisions with International Regulations. The Case of Unaccompanied Minors in the EU and in Italy

Abstract

In recent years, a growing number of and separated children (hereinafter unaccompanied minors) entered and passed through the European Union (EU) looking for a safe country or in the attempt to secure their future, an education and a better job, meeting often to family or community members already in the EU. To reach a predetermined destination in Europe has become increasingly dangerous for many minors, whose migratory project is based on decisions made by their families and on expectations fueled by partisan information obtained mostly from informal networks. Analysing the EU context, it appears evident the existence of a number of common features, mainly caused by the sharing of common emergencies and by the structuring of similar domestic legal regulations. The northern European countries prefer the application of measures arising from the laws on immigration in relation to the protection of minors, instead the Mediterranean countries adopt provisions of protection under international law, EU law and its legal system with regard to child protection.