Fernando is an abandoned migrant child in Colombia. He is five years old and has been in the care of the Colombian state for two years. In that time, he could not find his family, and it is not known if she has the possibility and will to welcome him again.
The entity responsible for the care of children and adolescents estimates that, in Colombia, 1,200 migrant children are in the same situation. And, like Fernando, there are children abandoned on the US-Mexico border, in Europe and in many other countries.
What is the most appropriate response to the situation of Fernando and thousands of other migrant children and adolescents who are abandoned by their parents or caregivers in the States of transit and destination of their migratory route?
This is a situation that requires an urgent solution, as an excessively slow, partial or misguided response will further impact the lives of thousands of abandoned children.
There are many difficulties to overcome. How to remedy the lack of documentation of these children? How to look for their parents or family members, especially in contexts of high vulnerability, such as the conditions in which these minors and their families migrate and live? How to contribute to your life project and your right to have a family without harming your voice?
So far, in 2022, some countries have advanced in possible responses to find stable and durable solutions for migrant children and adolescents abandoned in their territories.
Spain has taken important steps to remove the obstacles that still existed for rapid access to a regular migratory status for children abandoned in the care of child protection services, and for young people between the ages of 18 and 23, so that they do not reach the age of majority in irregular migration status.
Meanwhile, since May 2022, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service has modified the requirements for accessing Young Special Immigrant status. This status can now be obtained, among others, by migrants under the age of 21 who have been abandoned when a state juvenile court has ruled that returning to their country is not a solution in their best interests.
While this change does not resolve many of the difficulties these children face when entering the national care system, it is a step towards permanent residency.
What has been Colombia’s response?
A few weeks ago, the Colombian Constitutional Court resolved a case very similar to Fernando’s. Although the full text of the sentence is not yet public, which makes it difficult to comment on the merits of the decision, it is certain that, for better or for worse, it projects a possible path where current regulations have not provided an adequate response. , leaving the authorities responsible for the care of abandoned migrant children tied up.
In the case of an abandoned minor, whether foreign or national, of course the first step is to look for his parents, extended family or adult to take care of him. The objective of this search is to reintegrate the child into the family environment, which is the most desirable solution, as long as the family can take care of the minor, guarantee their rights and be in a country to which the child can return.
However, in the case of Colombia and children of Venezuelan nationality in particular, the search for the family is an especially complex task for the authorities, due to the lack of diplomatic relations between Venezuela and Colombia since February 2019.
This situation prevents the Colombian authority responsible for the care of these minors from communicating and relying on its counterpart in Venezuela in order to find the child’s parents and family. Although they have tried to find alternative ways, these mechanisms have not given the expected results and their reach is still limited.
Thus, given the impossibility of returning to his family, an abandoned migrant child is condemned to live under the care of the Colombian State until he reaches the age of majority. This is because adoption, which is the other possible path for these minors, was not a possibility, as foreign children cannot be given up for adoption by the Colombian authorities.
This is where the Colombian Constitutional Court’s May 2022 ruling can make a difference. In this decision, the Court orders the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to grant Colombian nationality to a five-year-old minor of Venezuelan nationality, who has been in the care of the Colombian State for more than two years, without having managed to locate his family.
The authorities will also have to assess the adoption measure as a last resort in his case, a solution that would now be feasible in the case of a Colombian child. By order of the same Court, this decision will cover all migrant children of Venezuelan origin, in an irregular migratory situation and abandonment who have been in Colombia for at least one year, until there is a law or regulation on the matter or the “institutional block” is maintained. , in the words of the Court.
A few days before hearing the Constitutional Court’s decision, the national government presented a bill that seeks to grant Colombian nationality to all migrant minors who are in the care of the State and for whom family reintegration is not possible.
Although a lot can happen until the eventual approval of this bill, which is being presented to a recently renewed Congress of the Republic and on the eve of a change of Government, it is likely that the three branches of power will be involved to respond to children and migrant adolescents abandoned in Colombia.
It is too early to say whether the State’s responses are the most appropriate. But what these recent actions show is that, given the situation of abandoned migrant children, there can be no silence. Not in Colombia or any other country.
