Write for Rights 01/2022 | Defence For Children Italia | Movimento Globale per i Diritti dell’Infanzia

Defence for Children Italy launches "Write for Rights": a series of short/medium articles from theory to practice focusing on issues and topics from a child-sensitive and rights-based perspective.

The first issue 01/2022 is "Guardians of unaccompanied children at the intersection of immigration law and private international law", written by Ester di Napoli.

This article briefly illustrates how Private International Law rules may affect, in general, the way in which child migration can be managed. In particular, it focuses on the role that PIL may play towards guardians of unaccompanied children, moving from the assumption that the synergy between Immigration Law and Private International Law instruments is an added value, which may provide for a wider range of options in the reception and protection of unaccompanied children. Guardianship is central for managing child migration, and guardians – regardless of their (public/private) nature – are keystone within their national protection and reception systems, in need to be supported by all national, supranational and international stakeholders: guardians are reference points for “their” children, and should thus be provided with all range of tools to best perform their functions.