Participating in a panel on “European, national and local policies and context” in the framework of the international launching event “Turning 18 with confidence – supporting migrant and refugee children in transition to adulthood” on 18 April 2023 in the European Youth Centre in Strasbourg, Congress member Dusica Davidovic (Serbia, SOC/G/PD) highlighted the responsibility of mayors, city councilors and regional representatives to facilitate the transition of young refugees into adulthood.
“As soon as they turn 18, their change in legal status leads to uncertainty. Many are expected to return to unfamiliar cities in their countries of origin, while others must adjust to independent living in their host communities.”, she stated, noting that many of the services that can facilitate this transition, such as housing, education and healthcare, fall within the remit of local and regional authorities.
Ms Davidovic presented the Congress work in supporting Europe’s towns, cities and regions in facing challenges related to young migrants’ transition into adulthood, for example through policy guidance in its report on unaccompanied refugee children and through concrete good practice examples in the first volume of its Human Rights Handbook.
She also provided examples from her home country of Serbia on how young migrants can be supported in their transition to adulthood, in particular through vocational courses, which also contribute to better integration by connecting refugee and migrant youth with local communities.
“If there is support, refugee and migrant youth show great motivation for personal progress, and their resilience and ability to adapt to new life circumstances, as well as their willingness to face the situation and take the initiative, are extraordinary,” Ms Davidovic concluded.
The event was co-organised by the Council of Europe’s Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees (SRSG ), the Youth Department and the Co-operation Programmes Division – Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law (DGI) with the support of the Icelandic Presidency of the Council of Europe and the European Union’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF). It will provided an opportunity to present and launch the Guide for the implementation of the Recommendation CM/Rec(2019)4 on supporting young refugees in transition to adulthood , as well as the findings and tools developed in the framework of the multilateral project “Building Futures, Sharing Good Practices: Migrant Children’s Transition to Adulthood – UACFutures”.
