The Developmental Consequences for Asylum-seeking Children Living With the Prospect for Five Years or More of Enforced Return to Their Home Country

This study examines the European legal framework and policy on children’s rights and on the development and developmental risks of children from asylum-seeking families who have lived in asylum centres for over five years with the prospect of being forced to return to their home country. The legal procedures and practices of Member States in the Western European countries seem to be far too lengthy, and the standards for reception far too low to protect the children’s positive development.