On 27-28 May 2019, in Lisbon, the Office of the Special Representative on migration and refugees participated in a seminar in Portugal to discuss the “Effective Protection of Refugee and Migrant Children in Portugal”, organised by the Council of Europe and UNHCR (the United Nation’s refugee agency). The Council of Europe presented its work in the field of children´s rights, trafficking, European Court of Human Rights and the implementation of the Action Plan in Protecting refugee and migrant children. Other presentations included best practice example on successfully implemented alternatives to immigration detention (Tüsla) and best interests within the asylum procedure and the situation in Portugal (UNHCR). The event gathered some 80 participants and offered an opportunity to support ongoing initiatives by the Portuguese government to further strengthen the protection of children starting from the moment of arrival, through cooperation between asylum, anti-trafficking, and child protection institutions in Portugal.

On 3 June 2019, The Council of Europe HELP course on Refugee and Migrant Children was launched in Paris for French lawyers. The course has been developed and launched jointly with the Office of the Special Representative of the Council of Europe Secretary General on Migration and Refugees (SRSG) and is one of the measures implementing the Council of Europe Action Plan on protecting Refugee and Migrant Children in Europe (2017-2019). Thirty French lawyers will follow the course for the next three months. The Office of the Special Representative provided an overview of the role of the Council of Europe in this field and addressed in particular key relevant cases from the European Court of Human Rights, the findings of the SRSG’s mission reports with emphasis on the need to overcome challenges related to coordination among various authorities involved, as well as current standard setting work of the Council of Europe related to refugee and migrant children.

On 04-05 June 2019, in Moscow, the Office of the Special Representative participated at the International Conference “Global Migration Trends 2020: Security, Migration and Integration” organised by the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN). Council of Europe representatives and experts actively contributed to the two-day discussions on topics, such as global trends and challenges; multiculturalism and multilingualism; efficient integration of migrant children; or politics and mass-media.

On 11-12 June 2019, in Strasbourg, the Office of the Special Representative participated in an Ad-hoc Meeting on Statelessness Determination Procedures, organised by the European Committee on Legal Co-operation (CDCJ). National experts and key stakeholders in Europe exchanged views and experiences on national practices, recent gaps or new challenges and practical difficulties encountered by both national authorities and stateless persons. The meeting was organised in the context of an upcoming CDCJ preliminary review of protocols and procedures used by member states to determine and resolve cases of statelessness, in particular of migrant children. The detailed analysis of the review will be presented to the CDCJ for consideration at its plenary meeting in November 2019. This activity is part to the Council of Europe Action Plan on protecting refugee and migrant children for 2017-2019 under the section: Ensuring that every child has a nationality: implementation in practice of the principle of avoiding statelessness in relation to refugee and migrant children.