PUBLICATION

They Are Children Too: a study of Europe's deportation policies

By Liz Fekete

Analysing 150 cases from across Europe, Liz Fekete shows how unaccompanied minors, children in families of asylum seekers and those whose parents are without the requisite papers, are being damaged by the harsh, target-driven deportation systems which now prevail across the continent.

The young people may be sick, traumatised, separated from family members, about to sit exams or still breast-fed, but they are all considered unwanted illegals first and vulnerable children second. Pulling together evidence from 150 cases involving arrest, deportation, detention and destitution from a range of European NGOs and professionals, the report from the IRR's European Race Audit reminds us what governments have forgotten: that 'they are children too'.

It is an understanding that some new, popular forces in Europe already have. For, according to Liz Fekete, there are two Europes today. The bureaucratic, heartless, vicious Europe (which seizes children on their way to school, terrorises them in police raids, renders them destitute, incarcerates and deports them) is gradually being counterbalanced by a second Europe of ordinary people, 'acting in defiance of the law and with great courage, reminding governments what humanitarianism and social solidarity mean in practice'. Parents are hiding foreign children, schoolchildren are campaigning for their friends, faith organisations, doctors, social workers, teachers and child protection agencies are all calling authorities to account.

They Are Children Too is issue nos. 58 and 59 of the IRR European Race Bulletin. 76 pages, ISBN 0 85001 0675. To order They Are Children Too, at £10, please select the shopping basket icon below. Unfunded community groups can contact the IRR to request a free electronic copy as a pdf file.

The Institute of Race Relations is precluded from expressing a corporate view: any opinions expressed are therefore those of the authors.

They Are Children Too: a study of Europe's deportation policies

By Liz Fekete

Analysing 150 cases from across Europe, Liz Fekete shows how unaccompanied minors, children in families of asylum seekers and those whose parents are without the requisite papers, are being damaged by the harsh, target-driven deportation systems which now prevail across the continent.

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