Ad-hoc query* on separated migrant children.
EMN summary | Migrant children
Ad-hoc query: ‘Separated migrant children’
5 March 2026
Study Period – August-October 2025
Participating Countries – Austria (AT), Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), Cyprus (CY), Germany (DE), Estonia (EE), Finland (FI), France (FR), Greece (EL), Hungary (HU), Ireland (IE), Italy (IT), Croatia (HR), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Netherlands (NL), Poland (PL), Portugal (PT), Slovakia (SK), Slovenia (SI), Spain (ES), Czech Republic (CZ), Sweden (SE)
Background and scope
- Migrant children travelling alone are referred to, in the context of European migration policy, as unaccompanied minors, or in Dutch: ‘alleenstaande minderjarige vreemdelingen’. Children who travel with a family member or another adult who is not their parent or guardian are called 'separated migrant children' (‘van hun ouders gescheiden kinderen’).
- EU guidelines do not legally distinguish between these two groups of migrant children, both are considered ‘unaccompanied minors’. If the accompanying adult is not a legal representative, the same procedures apply for a child according to European asylum law. This affects how their accommodation and support during the asylum procedure are arranged.
- This information request seeks to inventory which EU Member States have specific national laws or rules for children separated from their parents but travelling with an adult companion (separated migrant children).
EMN publications
- Compilaton of answers from 24 EMN Member States on the ad-hoc query, October 2025
- EMN summary, ‘Separated migrant children’ (pdf), January 2026
EMN Netherlands publication
- News item, 'What procedures do EU Member States have for separated migrant children?', 5 March 2026
*An ad-hoc query (AHQ) is an EMN tool used to collect information on migration and asylum policies in EU Member States and EMN observing countries.
