INTRODUCTION

While the peak in the number of asylum seekers was reached in 2015, recent years have continued to present high numbers of asylum requests. In 2016, UNICEF estimated that one in every 200 children in the world today is a refugee. In 2017, over 31,000 unaccompanied minors registered in the EU. The number of child refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection is large, but an anticipated threat to states is that these numbers are bound to increase when children apply for family reunification. In order to ensure states are able to care for the children in their territory, they call for strict migration policies that ensure that no one is able to groundlessly reunify with third-country nationals (TCNs) seeking protection in the EU. By law, EU Member States are granted a wide margin of discretion to identify who falls within or outside the scope of family reunification of TCNs.

The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights wrote in 2017 that

While the Commissioner endorses the tough position that parents of multiple children are in, the fact that the bond between siblings is permanently disrupted as a result of migration policies, as described above, seems neglected or at the least overlooked. Currently, it is up to the discretion of states whether non-parental family relationships of the unaccompanied minor will be eligible for reunification in the host state. Also, it will be up to the discretion of states whether they will strive to keep siblings together and reunite siblings in cases of their separation as a result of migration.

In contrast to strict family reunification policies on a national or regional level, international children's rights law puts its focus on the best interests of children. This general principle is put forth in Article 3 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and states that in all actions concerning a child, the best interests of the child (BIC) should be a primary consideration.4