Verification and Family Reunification

Separated and unaccompanied children are at a greater risk of abuse and exploitation, and are less likely to have their basic rights to health, education, and psychosocial well-being met. It is the responsibility of protection organisations and the government to ensure that such children are identified, documented, their circumstances assessed, and active efforts made to reunite them with their parents or normal guardians as quickly as possible.

All separated children and caretakers searching for family members should be registered. Where possible, immediate efforts should be made to quickly reunite children. They should be documented in order to begin tracing activities. If an adult says he or she is an immediate or extended family member of a child, the relationship should be verified before reunification is carried out. Children may have to stay in emergency care placements until family members are located and screened, however they should be reunited at the earliest opportunity.

Verification activities are vital for the protection of children. In some cases children may falsely claim separation in order to receive benefits, adults may identify the wrong child, or reunification may not be in the best interests of the child. In the chaos and distress in an emergency situation, verification becomes an essential step in safe family reunification. All verification and reunification activities must follow international standards and government policies, and require coordination among the agencies involved.

Reunification with family members should take into account the wider community context, to ensure the child will be welcomed and to prevent future separation. This may include family mediation, community sensitization, and/or particular services to help ensure acceptance and enable families to provide adequate care. It is also appropriate to involve community leaders and/or child protection groups to monitor a child’s safety and well-being after reunification. All placements with caretakers who are not immediate family members should involve careful screening and be monitored until satisfactory integration is assured. For children who are not able to be reunited with relatives, a longer term care plan will be needed.

The materials in this section include verification forms, country examples and good practice guidance for reunifying separated children with their families.

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Not Seen or Heard: The Lives of Separated Refugee Children in Dar es Salaam

Gillian Mann, 2003

A study on the lives of separated refugee children in Dar es Salaam. The study highlights their experiences of abuse and discrimination, and their negative perception of refugee camps.

Working with Children in Unstable Situations: Principles and Concepts to Guide Psychosocial Responses

UNICEF, 2003

Discusses the psychosocial impacts of unstable situations on children and their families, with an emphasis on child development. Includes UNICEF’s position on policy and programming principles as well as strategies to address the psychosocial needs of children, families, and communities.

Mobility Mapping and Flow Diagrams: Tools for Family Tracing and Social Reintegration Work with Separated Children

Brigette De Lay, IRC, 31 Dec 2002

Detailed guidance on using drawing with children to facilitate documentation and tracing efforts, as well as a tool for reintegrating separated children into families.

Community-Based Reunification and Reintegration of Separated Children in Post-Conflict Rwanda

Brigette De Lay, 31 Dec 2002

Programmatic methodology and key steps for reintegrating institutionalized children back into the community in a post-conflict environment. Contains comprehensive assessment toolkit in document annex.

Guidelines for Interviewing (Separated) Minors

Directorate of Immigration Finland , 07 May 2002

Comprehensive guidance on interviewing children as part of an asylum interview. Contains theory and practice guidance on how to set up an interview and ask questions in a child-friendly manner. Explains how to enable children to recall memories and how to interview children in distress.

Child Soldiers: Care & Protection of Children in Emergencies: A Field Guide

Mark Lorey, 2001

Outlines the planning and implementation of programs focused on recruitment prevention, demobilization, or reintegration of child soldiers. Includes notes on situation analysis, monitoring, and evaluation.

A Survey of Programs on the Reintegration of Former Child Soldiers

William Deng Deng, 2001

Outlines national efforts to disarm, demobilize, and reintegrate former child soldiers with respect to specific political contexts. Includes lessons learned, future challenges, and recommendations.

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The Situation of Separated Children in Central Europe and the Baltic States

William Spindler, 2001

This report reviews childcare policy for separated children in the Central Europe and the Balkan States. It emphasizes the need to establish training, resources and effective procedures in order to meet the standards outlined in the Statement of Good Practice. Data from Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia is presented.

Reuniting children separated from their families after the Rwandan crisis of 1994: the relative value of a centralized database

Maarten Merkelbach - International Review of the Red Cross, 30 Jun 2000

This paper presents the results of an audit to evaluate the efficacy of the central database designed to facilitate the reunification of unaccompanied children in Rwanda with their families.

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The Right to Peace: Children and Armed Conflict

Melanie Gow, Kathy Vandergrift, and Randini Wanduragala, 2000

Outlines a comprehensive strategy for dealing with children and armed conflict based on the CRC. Includes detailed policy recommendations on prevention, protection, and reintegration.