Unaccompanied Migrant Children’s Rights: A Prerequisite for the 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals in Spain and Sweden

Guadalupe Francia,Adrián Neubauer,Silvia Edling

doi:10.3390/socsci10060185

Guadalupe Francia, Adrián Neubauer + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10060185

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Abstract

Starting from a child rights-based approach to sustainable development, this contribution underlines and compares the discourses in selected Spanish and Swedish migration and education policies on the rights of unaccompanied minors to education and discusses their impact on the enactment of the 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals in both countries. Based on critical discourse analysis, this research shows the co-existence of two different discourses: one on unaccompanied minors as global rights holders and the other on unaccompanied minors as foreign citizens. By describing unaccompanied migrant minors as citizens rather than children, international migration agreements make it possible for the Spanish and Swedish governments to deprioritize other international agreements on refugees’ rights, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the 2030 Agenda. Furthermore, as child rights and sustainable development are mutually reinforcing, the negotiation of rights shows that there are obstacles to accomplishing rights-based Sustainable Development Goal 4 in the 2030 Agenda.

Highlights

A child rights-based approach to sustainable development can strengthen the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in different areas and at different levels
Securing the rights of the most vulnerable children is relevant for the accomplishment of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) of the 2030 Agenda, which aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” (UNESCO 2019a)
Another reason for this selection is the bilateral agreements signed by Sweden with Afghanistan and Spain with Morocco concerning the deportation of unaccompanied minors

Summary

Introduction

A child rights-based approach to sustainable development can strengthen the implementation of the 2030 Agenda in different areas and at different levels. Integrating the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in the 2030 Agenda’s goals and targets can be a way of mobilizing people to identify and enact practices and measures for sustainable development and in relation to children’s rights (OHCHR United Nations Human Rights Office of the Rights Commissioner 2020). Securing the rights of the most vulnerable children is relevant for the accomplishment of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) of the 2030 Agenda, which aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” (UNESCO 2019a). Considered as a fundamental right in the CRC, the right to education is a powerful tool for sustainable development in the 2030 Agenda (UNESCO 2019b). UNICEF (2007) specifies a human rights approach to development, in which the right of education is regarded as fundamental and requires educational environments that offer equal opportunities, no discrimination of any kind, freedom from all forms of violence, and respect for children’s and young people’s language, cultural, and religious backgrounds

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