1. Why the Protection of Unaccompanied Children Matters
Across the world, armed conflicts, political crises, climate events, economic collapse and organised crime push families into forced migration. In this environment, many children move without their parents or primary caregivers. Some are separated during flight, some are deliberately sent ahead to reach safety, and some lose their families on the road.
Turkey is a transit, destination and sometimes first country of safety for these children. They may cross land borders, arrive at coasts, be intercepted at airports or be found inside the territory while working informally or living on the streets. Whatever the route, once they are on Turkish territory, they are children first, migrants second. Their protection is not a favour but a legal obligation.
Unaccompanied children face several overlapping risks:
- Trafficking, exploitation and forced labour
- Exposure to violence, including sexual and gender-based violence
- Psychological trauma, depression and post-traumatic stress
- School drop-out and long-term marginalisation
- Arbitrary detention or return to dangerous environments
The concept of international protection status aims to shield these children from serious harm in their home countries and from further violations in the country of asylum. For lawyers, NGOs, social workers and academics, understanding how this status operates in Turkey – both on paper and in practice – is essential.
This article focuses on:
- key legal definitions and principles applicable to unaccompanied children;
- international and domestic legal sources governing their protection;
- how children are identified, registered and assessed;
- how the asylum and international protection procedures must be adapted to children;
- reception, guardianship and care arrangements;
- durable solutions such as family reunification, resettlement and local integration;
- recurring practice-based problems and strategic recommendations.
2. Legal Definitions and Core Principles
2.1. Who is an “unaccompanied child”?
For the purposes of international protection, an unaccompanied child is generally understood as a person:
- who is under 18 years of age,
- who is outside his or her country of nationality or habitual residence, and
- who is not accompanied by a parent or another adult who, by law or custom, is responsible for their care.
In Turkish legislation dealing with foreigners and international protection, this concept is explicitly recognised. The law distinguishes:
- Unaccompanied children – no parent, legal guardian or customary caregiver is present;
- Separated children – at least one adult relative is present, but not the parent or primary caregiver;
- Children within families – where the child arrives and remains with the family unit.
Why this definition matters:
- It triggers special procedural guarantees (guardianship, adapted interviews, prioritised processing).
- It determines the authority responsible for the child’s care (migration administration vs. child protection bodies).
- It influences decisions on detention, deportation and accommodation.
Because age and family links are often difficult to document, the definition must be applied flexibly and always with the benefit of the doubt in favour of child protection.
2.2. Child, not just “foreigner”: best interests as a primary consideration
The core principle guiding all action related to unaccompanied children is the best interests of the child. This is a cross-cutting standard recognised in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and reflected in Turkish law.
In practical terms, this means:
- Every administrative or judicial decision affecting the child – admission at the border, registration, placement, detention, deportation, refusal of entry, status determination – must be assessed against the best interests test.
- The child’s safety, development, identity, family ties and future prospects must be evaluated in a holistic way.
- Migration control or public order objectives cannot automatically override child protection considerations.
A genuine best-interests assessment is not a box-ticking exercise. It requires:
- Gathering multi-disciplinary information (social, psychological, educational, medical).
- Ensuring the child’s participation according to age and maturity.
- Documenting the reasons why a particular solution is considered better than alternatives (for example, why a return decision is considered compatible or incompatible with the child’s interests).
2.3. Non-discrimination and non-refoulement
Unaccompanied migrant children are particularly exposed to discrimination based on nationality, ethnicity, religion or migration status. However, under international and domestic human rights law:
- Children must enjoy their rights without discrimination of any kind.
- The state must not return a person – including a child – to a country where they face a real risk of serious harm, persecution, torture or inhuman or degrading treatment. This is the principle of non-refoulement.
For unaccompanied children, non-refoulement has an additional dimension: return may not only expose them to physical danger but also to extreme neglect, absence of care or exploitation. An assessment limited to political risks is therefore inadequate; authorities must look at the child’s overall life-situation in the country of origin and in any third country considered as a place of return.
3. International and Regional Standards Shaping Turkish Practice
3.1. UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and specialised guidance
Turkey is party to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The CRC:
- defines anyone under 18 as a child;
- confirms the best interests principle;
- protects the right to life, survival and development;
- guarantees access to education, health care, identity, privacy and family life;
- requires special protection for children who are refugees or seeking refugee status.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has issued detailed guidance on unaccompanied and separated children. This guidance clarifies, among other points:
- that children should have access to territory and asylum procedures;
- that detention of children for immigration reasons should be avoided;
- that guardians and legal representatives must be appointed as soon as possible;
- that long-term solutions must be sought promptly, not just temporary containment.
These standards are not merely political recommendations; they are used by courts and monitoring bodies to interpret the obligations of states, including Turkey.
3.2. Refugee law, human rights law and child-specific persecution
In parallel, core refugee and human rights instruments shape the concept of international protection status:
- The 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol
- The Convention Against Torture
- The European Convention on Human Rights and case-law of the European Court of Human Rights
The combination of these texts leads to the recognition that children may:
- be persecuted for reasons linked to their own characteristics (ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, political opinions, membership of a particular social group);
- be targeted because of their parents’ activities or status;
- suffer forms of persecution that are specifically child-related, such as recruitment as child soldiers, denial of education, forced marriage or certain harmful traditional practices.
This understanding has gradually influenced Turkish practice in asylum, especially with the involvement of international organisations and civil society, although the level of child-sensitive reasoning in individual decisions still varies significantly.
3.3. Regional influence and soft-law standards
Even though Turkey is not an EU Member State, European Union instruments concerning unaccompanied minors – particularly the Asylum Procedures Directive, the Reception Conditions Directive and the Return Directive – provide soft-law benchmarks. In addition, the Council of Europe has adopted guidelines and recommendations on child-friendly justice, alternatives to detention and the protection of migrant children.
These texts are often used by lawyers and NGOs as interpretative tools when arguing cases in national courts, especially when domestic legislation is vague or silent on specific issues (for example, the structure of guardianship systems or criteria for deprivation of liberty).
4. Domestic Legal and Institutional Framework in Turkey
4.1. Law on Foreigners and International Protection (LFIP)
The Law on Foreigners and International Protection is the central statute regulating migration and international protection in Turkey. It introduced:
- a structured system of international protection statuses (refugee, conditional refugee, subsidiary protection);
- the concept of temporary protection for mass influx situations;
- appointment of a dedicated migration administration;
- special provisions for vulnerable groups, including unaccompanied children.
For unaccompanied children, the law underlines:
- the need to apply the best interests principle;
- the obligation to coordinate with the child protection authorities;
- the importance of appropriate accommodation and care;
- access to education, health care and social assistance through accompanying legislation and practice.
4.2. Child protection legislation and social services
Alongside LFIP, Turkey applies a Child Protection Law and a series of regulations governing social services, child care institutions, foster placements and adoption. These texts are not limited to Turkish nationals. Once a foreign child is determined to be in need of protection, social services may:
- place the child in a state care institution, small group home or other protected setting;
- appoint social workers and psychologists;
- devise an individual care plan;
- coordinate with schools, health providers and, where necessary, the criminal justice system.
For unaccompanied children with international protection needs, there is thus a double legal framework:
- LFIP and migration rules – dealing with status, deportation, access to territory.
- Child protection law – dealing with daily care, placement and development.
This double framework can create confusion about who is responsible for which aspect of the child’s situation, but it also offers multiple entry points for legal intervention.
4.3. Key institutions
The main institutions dealing with unaccompanied children in the context of international protection include:
- The Presidency of Migration Management (and its provincial directorates), responsible for registration, lodging and examining international protection applications, issuing decisions on status, deportation and administrative detention.
- The Ministry of Family and Social Services, in charge of shelters, child care institutions, foster families and child protection procedures.
- Law enforcement bodies (police, gendarmerie, border units), often the first to intercept children at borders or within the territory.
- Judiciary, including administrative courts handling appeals against deportation and detention, and civil courts handling guardianship matters.
- Bar associations and legal aid systems, providing lawyers to children who cannot afford representation.
- Civil society organisations and international agencies, offering legal counselling, translation, psychosocial support and monitoring.
Understanding how these actors interact is crucial for any lawyer or NGO wishing to ensure effective protection for unaccompanied children.
5. Identification, Registration and Age Determination
5.1. First contact and identification as unaccompanied
The process usually starts when a child is detected by:
- border officials during entry or attempted entry;
- police during checks on streets, workplaces or transport;
- coast guard during search and rescue;
- social services or NGOs during outreach;
- staff at removal centres or reception facilities.
From that moment, the following should occur without delay:
- The child must be treated as a child, not as an irregular adult migrant.
- Authorities must determine whether the child is accompanied, separated or unaccompanied, and record that status.
- The case must be referred to the migration authority for registration as a foreigner with potential protection needs.
- Simultaneously, the child protection services must be informed to ensure safe accommodation and immediate needs assessment.
In practice, problems can appear at this stage:
- Children may claim to be adults because they fear detention or deportation.
- Officials may assume adulthood based on appearance, especially for 16-17-year-olds.
- There may be no child-friendly space at the point of first contact.
For this reason, training of front-line officials and clear standard operating procedures are critical.
5.2. Registration as an international protection applicant
Once the child’s presence is recorded, they should be informed – in a language they understand – that they can seek international protection in Turkey. Registration usually involves:
- recording basic identity data;
- taking photographs and fingerprints (with special care due to age and trauma);
- recording information on country of origin, route of travel and any known relatives;
- indicating that the person is an unaccompanied or separated child.
Registration is not a mere technical step. Without registration:
- the child may have no legal status in Turkey;
- they may be at higher risk of removal;
- access to education, health care and social services may be blocked;
- they will not enter the international protection procedure.
For legal practitioners, it is therefore crucial to verify whether a child has actually been registered, and under which profile (child or adult).
5.3. Age assessment and benefit of the doubt
Age is frequently disputed. Typical scenarios:
- A child has no documentation or the document is considered unreliable.
- Authorities suspect that a person claiming to be a child is actually over 18.
- Authorities have registered the individual as an adult, but later information suggests they are underage.
International practice requires age assessments to be holistic and multidisciplinary. Purely medical examinations, such as wrist X-rays or dental checks, have a significant margin of error and can only be one element among others. A proper assessment should include:
- interviews focused on schooling, family structure, life events;
- observations by social workers and psychologists;
- consideration of developmental signs and behaviour.
The benefit of the doubt principle requires that, where reasonable uncertainty remains, the person should be treated as a child. This has important consequences:
- they should not be placed in adult removal centres;
- they should be accommodated in child-appropriate facilities;
- they should enjoy all child-specific procedural safeguards.
Where authorities assign an adult age contrary to evidence, lawyers can challenge that determination through administrative and judicial remedies, often with the support of expert reports.
6. Asylum and International Protection Procedures for Unaccompanied Children
6.1. Access to procedure and types of status
Unaccompanied children can qualify for different forms of international protection in Turkey, depending on their circumstances:
- Refugee or conditional refugee status, where they have a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons such as race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.
- Subsidiary protection, where they do not meet the strict refugee definition but face a real risk of serious harm, for example death penalty, torture or indiscriminate violence resulting from armed conflict.
- Temporary protection, generally applicable in mass influx contexts, where individual refugee status determinations are replaced by group-based protection.
- Humanitarian residence permits, where removal would be incompatible with the child’s circumstances but formal international protection status is not granted.
The key point is that children must have effective access to these procedures. They should never be refused registration or access to protection solely because they are children or arrived irregularly.
6.2. Guardianship, representation and legal aid
Because unaccompanied children lack parental representation, authorities must ensure that a guardian or representative is appointed without delay. In the Turkish system, this typically requires:
- involvement of child protection institutions;
- initiation of guardianship or representation procedures before the relevant civil court;
- appointment of a lawyer through legal aid schemes once there is a pending international protection or deportation procedure.
The role of guardians and lawyers is not symbolic. They must:
- receive copies of all administrative decisions;
- be informed of interviews and hearings;
- have the opportunity to submit evidence and arguments;
- assist the child in expressing views and making informed choices.
Where guardianship is delayed or ineffective, lawyers and NGOs can rely on child-rights arguments to push for proper representation, pointing out that decisions taken without a guardian in place may not respect the best interests principle.
6.3. Child-sensitive interviews and credibility assessment
Interviews form the heart of the international protection procedure. With children, they must be adapted in both form and substance. Good practice includes:
- conducting interviews in safe, quiet and non-threatening rooms;
- limiting the length of interviews and including breaks;
- using an interpreter who has experience with children and speaks the appropriate dialect;
- avoiding accusatory, rapid-fire or confusing questions;
- allowing the presence of a trusted adult, guardian or lawyer;
- explaining the process in simple terms that the child can understand.
Children often have difficulty recalling precise dates, political details or geographical information. Past trauma, fear and guilt may further affect memory. Decision-makers must therefore apply a child-sensitive credibility assessment, taking into account:
- age and maturity;
- educational background;
- psychological state;
- cultural barriers.
Minor inconsistencies, especially regarding time, distance or minor details, should not automatically result in negative credibility findings. Instead, authorities should examine whether the core elements of the account are coherent and plausible when compared with country of origin information.
6.4. Prioritisation and timeframes
Unaccompanied children should benefit from prioritised processing. Long delays in status determination can harm their mental health and hinder integration, education and planning for the future. At the same time, prioritisation must not become a pretext for rushed or superficial decisions. A balanced approach is required:
- short waiting times for first interview;
- reasonable time to gather evidence and prepare the case;
- accelerated appeals procedures where appropriate;
- ongoing best-interests assessments throughout the process.
7. Reception Conditions, Detention and Everyday Rights
7.1. Accommodation and care
Once identified, unaccompanied children should be referred to child-appropriate accommodation managed or supervised by child protection authorities. Options include:
- larger state-run childcare institutions;
- smaller group homes;
- foster families, where available;
- specialised units for children with specific needs (for example, survivors of trafficking or serious trauma).
Key standards for accommodation:
- safety and protection from violence and exploitation;
- respect for privacy and dignity;
- access to education, health care, leisure and cultural activities;
- opportunities to participate in decisions about daily life.
Overcrowding, lack of individualised attention and absence of trained staff can undermine these standards. For legal practitioners, monitoring reception conditions is important not only from a human-rights perspective but also because poor conditions may affect the child’s credibility, behaviour and mental health.
7.2. Education and health care
International and domestic law recognise the right of every child to education and access to health care without discrimination. For unaccompanied children with international protection needs, this implies:
- timely enrolment in public schools or alternative programmes, taking into account language learning and recognition of previous schooling;
- provision of health services, including vaccinations, dental care and chronic disease management;
- mental health and psychosocial support, particularly for those who experienced violence, loss or torture.
Access barriers can include language, documentation issues, discrimination or limited capacity in local schools and health centres. Strategic litigation and advocacy have a role in ensuring that ministries and local authorities implement inclusive policies rather than ad-hoc solutions.
7.3. Detention and alternatives
A central question is whether unaccompanied children may be detained for migration-related reasons, for example in removal centres. International guidance is clear: deprivation of liberty on the basis of migration status is never in the child’s best interests and should be avoided. The preferred approach is:
- no detention at all for unaccompanied minors;
- use of open or semi-open child-protection facilities;
- if exceptional short-term restrictions are imposed for identity checks or safety reasons, they must be clearly justified, subject to judicial control and accompanied by appropriate safeguards.
In practice, unaccompanied children may end up in removal centres due to registration as adults, documentation errors or capacity problems in child-protection facilities. In such cases, lawyers can challenge detention orders by invoking:
- the best interests principle;
- the disproportionate impact of detention on children;
- the availability of less restrictive alternatives.
Administrative courts and, where necessary, higher courts may play a key role in shaping jurisprudence towards a genuine “no child in immigration detention” policy.
8. Durable Solutions: Beyond Temporary Protection
8.1. Concept of durable solutions
International protection status is not an end in itself. For unaccompanied children, authorities must aim at a durable solution that secures their long-term safety and development. Three classical options are:
- Return and reintegration in the country of origin, if and when conditions permit and if this is genuinely in the child’s best interests.
- Local integration in the country of asylum, including secure status, full access to rights and eventual path to citizenship where possible.
- Resettlement or relocation to a third country, typically in cooperation with UNHCR or other states.
For each child, authorities should conduct a best-interests determination to identify which option is most appropriate. Factors include:
- nature and gravity of risks in the country of origin;
- existence or absence of family or caregivers abroad;
- child’s links to the host society (schooling, language, social network);
- child’s own wishes and perspectives about the future.
8.2. Family tracing and family reunification
One of the priorities for unaccompanied children is to clarify what happened to their families. Family tracing may be carried out with the help of international organisations, NGOs and consular authorities, always subject to confidentiality and safety.
If parents or other suitable caregivers are located in a safe context, family reunification can be considered:
- in the host country, where legal possibilities exist;
- in a third country;
- in the country of origin, provided that return is safe and in the child’s best interests.
Family reunification procedures can be lengthy and bureaucratic. Legal support is often necessary to navigate visa systems, documentation requirements and proof of family links.
8.3. Local integration in Turkey
Many unaccompanied children who obtain international protection status eventually build their lives in Turkey. Local integration involves more than legal status; it is a multi-dimensional process:
- Legal dimension: secure residence, protection against refoulement, access to civil documentation.
- Economic dimension: vocational training, job opportunities once they reach adulthood, recognition of qualifications.
- Social and cultural dimension: language acquisition, inclusion in schools and neighbourhoods, protection from discrimination.
For former unaccompanied children, the transition to adulthood is critical. Once they turn 18, some child-specific safeguards disappear. Ensuring continuity of status, access to higher education and employment support is therefore essential to avoid sudden marginalisation.
8.4. Resettlement and complementary pathways
A smaller number of unaccompanied children may be resettled from Turkey to third countries through programmes coordinated by UNHCR or states. Criteria vary, but typically include:
- compelling protection needs;
- lack of viable prospects for local integration;
- particular vulnerabilities (serious medical conditions, survivors of torture, etc.).
In addition, complementary pathways such as humanitarian admissions, scholarships or private sponsorship schemes are increasingly explored. Legal practitioners can assist by documenting the child’s profile and liaising with relevant organisations.
9. Practice-Based Challenges and Strategic Recommendations
9.1. Gaps between law and practice
Despite an increasingly sophisticated legal framework, several problems remain in practice:
- Inconsistent identification of unaccompanied children at borders and inside the territory.
- Delays or gaps in guardianship, leaving children without effective representation at crucial moments.
- Use of adult procedures and environments that are not child-friendly.
- Occasional detention of children in removal centres, especially where age is disputed.
- Difficulties in accessing education and health services, particularly in areas with high numbers of refugees.
- Limited availability of qualified interpreters trained to work with children.
- Fragmented data and lack of unified monitoring systems.
Addressing these issues requires a combination of litigation, advocacy, training and cooperation between state institutions and civil society.
9.2. Strategic role of lawyers and NGOs
For lawyers, NGOs and social workers, several strategic interventions can significantly improve the protection of unaccompanied children:
- Early intervention at first contact
- Insist on registration as children where there are indications of minority.
- Challenge rushed or purely medical age assessments.
- Guardianship and legal aid
- Request immediate appointment of a guardian; if delayed, ask courts and administrative authorities to postpone non-urgent decisions until representation is ensured.
- Use legal aid mechanisms to provide continuous support, including in appeals and detention challenges.
- Child-sensitive case preparation
- Spend time building trust with the child, explaining rights and procedures in simple language.
- Work with psychologists and social workers to assess trauma and vulnerabilities.
- Document child-specific persecution – for example, forced recruitment, family violence, sexual abuse, discriminatory denial of education.
- Litigation on systemic issues
- Challenge unlawful detention of minors and seek precedents that clearly restrict the use of migration detention for children.
- Make strategic use of the best-interests principle in deportation and status cases.
- Where necessary, bring cases to higher courts or international bodies to clarify standards.
- Monitoring and advocacy
- Document patterns of malpractice (e.g., systematic registration of 17-year-olds as adults).
- Engage in dialogue with authorities to refine standard operating procedures.
- Provide training and awareness-raising for officials, teachers and health personnel.
9.3. Importance of individualised, holistic assessments
Perhaps the most important message is that there is no typical unaccompanied child. Every case involves a unique combination of factors:
- age and maturity;
- family history and cultural background;
- experiences in the country of origin;
- journey and experiences in transit;
- current living conditions in Turkey;
- aspirations, fears and abilities.
International protection status must therefore be determined through individualised examination, not by applying presumption based solely on nationality or route of entry. The same is true for decisions on detention, reception and durable solutions.
10. Conclusion
The international protection status of unaccompanied children in Turkey is a complex intersection of refugee law, human rights law, child protection rules and migration management. On paper, the legal framework offers strong tools: recognition of unaccompanied minors as a vulnerable group, emphasis on the best interests principle, the prohibition of refoulement and the link with child-protection institutions.
However, practical implementation remains uneven. Structural challenges – high numbers of arrivals, limited resources, institutional fragmentation and sometimes conflicting policy priorities – can result in failures to identify children, gaps in guardianship, inappropriate detention or insufficient access to basic services.
For practitioners, the key is to use the law dynamically:
- to insist that children are recognised as such and registered accordingly;
- to ensure that procedures are genuinely child-sensitive;
- to demand that detention is replaced by community-based alternatives;
- to push for durable solutions that respect the child’s rights and aspirations.
Unaccompanied children have already endured journeys that most adults would find unbearable. A well-functioning international protection system does not simply prevent their return to danger; it offers them a real chance to rebuild their lives in safety and dignity. Turkey, as a major host and transit country, occupies a central position in this effort. Ensuring that its practice fully reflects the rights of unaccompanied children is both a legal duty and a moral imperative.
1. Why the Protection of Unaccompanied Children Matters
Across the world, armed conflicts, political crises, climate events, economic collapse and organised crime push families into forced migration. In this environment, many children move without their parents or primary caregivers. Some are separated during flight, some are deliberately sent ahead to reach safety, and some lose their families on the road.
Turkey is a transit, destination and sometimes first country of safety for these children. They may cross land borders, arrive at coasts, be intercepted at airports or be found inside the territory while working informally or living on the streets. Whatever the route, once they are on Turkish territory, they are children first, migrants second. Their protection is not a favour but a legal obligation.
Unaccompanied children face several overlapping risks:
- Trafficking, exploitation and forced labour
- Exposure to violence, including sexual and gender-based violence
- Psychological trauma, depression and post-traumatic stress
- School drop-out and long-term marginalisation
- Arbitrary detention or return to dangerous environments
The concept of international protection status aims to shield these children from serious harm in their home countries and from further violations in the country of asylum. For lawyers, NGOs, social workers and academics, understanding how this status operates in Turkey – both on paper and in practice – is essential.
This article focuses on:
- key legal definitions and principles applicable to unaccompanied children;
- international and domestic legal sources governing their protection;
- how children are identified, registered and assessed;
- how the asylum and international protection procedures must be adapted to children;
- reception, guardianship and care arrangements;
- durable solutions such as family reunification, resettlement and local integration;
- recurring practice-based problems and strategic recommendations.
2. Legal Definitions and Core Principles
2.1. Who is an “unaccompanied child”?
For the purposes of international protection, an unaccompanied child is generally understood as a person:
- who is under 18 years of age,
- who is outside his or her country of nationality or habitual residence, and
- who is not accompanied by a parent or another adult who, by law or custom, is responsible for their care.
In Turkish legislation dealing with foreigners and international protection, this concept is explicitly recognised. The law distinguishes:
- Unaccompanied children – no parent, legal guardian or customary caregiver is present;
- Separated children – at least one adult relative is present, but not the parent or primary caregiver;
- Children within families – where the child arrives and remains with the family unit.
Why this definition matters:
- It triggers special procedural guarantees (guardianship, adapted interviews, prioritised processing).
- It determines the authority responsible for the child’s care (migration administration vs. child protection bodies).
- It influences decisions on detention, deportation and accommodation.
Because age and family links are often difficult to document, the definition must be applied flexibly and always with the benefit of the doubt in favour of child protection.
2.2. Child, not just “foreigner”: best interests as a primary consideration
The core principle guiding all action related to unaccompanied children is the best interests of the child. This is a cross-cutting standard recognised in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and reflected in Turkish law.
In practical terms, this means:
- Every administrative or judicial decision affecting the child – admission at the border, registration, placement, detention, deportation, refusal of entry, status determination – must be assessed against the best interests test.
- The child’s safety, development, identity, family ties and future prospects must be evaluated in a holistic way.
- Migration control or public order objectives cannot automatically override child protection considerations.
A genuine best-interests assessment is not a box-ticking exercise. It requires:
- Gathering multi-disciplinary information (social, psychological, educational, medical).
- Ensuring the child’s participation according to age and maturity.
- Documenting the reasons why a particular solution is considered better than alternatives (for example, why a return decision is considered compatible or incompatible with the child’s interests).
2.3. Non-discrimination and non-refoulement
Unaccompanied migrant children are particularly exposed to discrimination based on nationality, ethnicity, religion or migration status. However, under international and domestic human rights law:
- Children must enjoy their rights without discrimination of any kind.
- The state must not return a person – including a child – to a country where they face a real risk of serious harm, persecution, torture or inhuman or degrading treatment. This is the principle of non-refoulement.
For unaccompanied children, non-refoulement has an additional dimension: return may not only expose them to physical danger but also to extreme neglect, absence of care or exploitation. An assessment limited to political risks is therefore inadequate; authorities must look at the child’s overall life-situation in the country of origin and in any third country considered as a place of return.
3. International and Regional Standards Shaping Turkish Practice
3.1. UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and specialised guidance
Turkey is party to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The CRC:
- defines anyone under 18 as a child;
- confirms the best interests principle;
- protects the right to life, survival and development;
- guarantees access to education, health care, identity, privacy and family life;
- requires special protection for children who are refugees or seeking refugee status.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has issued detailed guidance on unaccompanied and separated children. This guidance clarifies, among other points:
- that children should have access to territory and asylum procedures;
- that detention of children for immigration reasons should be avoided;
- that guardians and legal representatives must be appointed as soon as possible;
- that long-term solutions must be sought promptly, not just temporary containment.
These standards are not merely political recommendations; they are used by courts and monitoring bodies to interpret the obligations of states, including Turkey.
3.2. Refugee law, human rights law and child-specific persecution
In parallel, core refugee and human rights instruments shape the concept of international protection status:
- The 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol
- The Convention Against Torture
- The European Convention on Human Rights and case-law of the European Court of Human Rights
The combination of these texts leads to the recognition that children may:
- be persecuted for reasons linked to their own characteristics (ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, political opinions, membership of a particular social group);
- be targeted because of their parents’ activities or status;
- suffer forms of persecution that are specifically child-related, such as recruitment as child soldiers, denial of education, forced marriage or certain harmful traditional practices.
This understanding has gradually influenced Turkish practice in asylum, especially with the involvement of international organisations and civil society, although the level of child-sensitive reasoning in individual decisions still varies significantly.
3.3. Regional influence and soft-law standards
Even though Turkey is not an EU Member State, European Union instruments concerning unaccompanied minors – particularly the Asylum Procedures Directive, the Reception Conditions Directive and the Return Directive – provide soft-law benchmarks. In addition, the Council of Europe has adopted guidelines and recommendations on child-friendly justice, alternatives to detention and the protection of migrant children.
These texts are often used by lawyers and NGOs as interpretative tools when arguing cases in national courts, especially when domestic legislation is vague or silent on specific issues (for example, the structure of guardianship systems or criteria for deprivation of liberty).
4. Domestic Legal and Institutional Framework in Turkey
4.1. Law on Foreigners and International Protection (LFIP)
The Law on Foreigners and International Protection is the central statute regulating migration and international protection in Turkey. It introduced:
- a structured system of international protection statuses (refugee, conditional refugee, subsidiary protection);
- the concept of temporary protection for mass influx situations;
- appointment of a dedicated migration administration;
- special provisions for vulnerable groups, including unaccompanied children.
For unaccompanied children, the law underlines:
- the need to apply the best interests principle;
- the obligation to coordinate with the child protection authorities;
- the importance of appropriate accommodation and care;
- access to education, health care and social assistance through accompanying legislation and practice.
4.2. Child protection legislation and social services
Alongside LFIP, Turkey applies a Child Protection Law and a series of regulations governing social services, child care institutions, foster placements and adoption. These texts are not limited to Turkish nationals. Once a foreign child is determined to be in need of protection, social services may:
- place the child in a state care institution, small group home or other protected setting;
- appoint social workers and psychologists;
- devise an individual care plan;
- coordinate with schools, health providers and, where necessary, the criminal justice system.
For unaccompanied children with international protection needs, there is thus a double legal framework:
- LFIP and migration rules – dealing with status, deportation, access to territory.
- Child protection law – dealing with daily care, placement and development.
This double framework can create confusion about who is responsible for which aspect of the child’s situation, but it also offers multiple entry points for legal intervention.
4.3. Key institutions
The main institutions dealing with unaccompanied children in the context of international protection include:
- The Presidency of Migration Management (and its provincial directorates), responsible for registration, lodging and examining international protection applications, issuing decisions on status, deportation and administrative detention.
- The Ministry of Family and Social Services, in charge of shelters, child care institutions, foster families and child protection procedures.
- Law enforcement bodies (police, gendarmerie, border units), often the first to intercept children at borders or within the territory.
- Judiciary, including administrative courts handling appeals against deportation and detention, and civil courts handling guardianship matters.
- Bar associations and legal aid systems, providing lawyers to children who cannot afford representation.
- Civil society organisations and international agencies, offering legal counselling, translation, psychosocial support and monitoring.
Understanding how these actors interact is crucial for any lawyer or NGO wishing to ensure effective protection for unaccompanied children.
5. Identification, Registration and Age Determination
5.1. First contact and identification as unaccompanied
The process usually starts when a child is detected by:
- border officials during entry or attempted entry;
- police during checks on streets, workplaces or transport;
- coast guard during search and rescue;
- social services or NGOs during outreach;
- staff at removal centres or reception facilities.
From that moment, the following should occur without delay:
- The child must be treated as a child, not as an irregular adult migrant.
- Authorities must determine whether the child is accompanied, separated or unaccompanied, and record that status.
- The case must be referred to the migration authority for registration as a foreigner with potential protection needs.
- Simultaneously, the child protection services must be informed to ensure safe accommodation and immediate needs assessment.
In practice, problems can appear at this stage:
- Children may claim to be adults because they fear detention or deportation.
- Officials may assume adulthood based on appearance, especially for 16-17-year-olds.
- There may be no child-friendly space at the point of first contact.
For this reason, training of front-line officials and clear standard operating procedures are critical.
5.2. Registration as an international protection applicant
Once the child’s presence is recorded, they should be informed – in a language they understand – that they can seek international protection in Turkey. Registration usually involves:
- recording basic identity data;
- taking photographs and fingerprints (with special care due to age and trauma);
- recording information on country of origin, route of travel and any known relatives;
- indicating that the person is an unaccompanied or separated child.
Registration is not a mere technical step. Without registration:
- the child may have no legal status in Turkey;
- they may be at higher risk of removal;
- access to education, health care and social services may be blocked;
- they will not enter the international protection procedure.
For legal practitioners, it is therefore crucial to verify whether a child has actually been registered, and under which profile (child or adult).
5.3. Age assessment and benefit of the doubt
Age is frequently disputed. Typical scenarios:
- A child has no documentation or the document is considered unreliable.
- Authorities suspect that a person claiming to be a child is actually over 18.
- Authorities have registered the individual as an adult, but later information suggests they are underage.
International practice requires age assessments to be holistic and multidisciplinary. Purely medical examinations, such as wrist X-rays or dental checks, have a significant margin of error and can only be one element among others. A proper assessment should include:
- interviews focused on schooling, family structure, life events;
- observations by social workers and psychologists;
- consideration of developmental signs and behaviour.
The benefit of the doubt principle requires that, where reasonable uncertainty remains, the person should be treated as a child. This has important consequences:
- they should not be placed in adult removal centres;
- they should be accommodated in child-appropriate facilities;
- they should enjoy all child-specific procedural safeguards.
Where authorities assign an adult age contrary to evidence, lawyers can challenge that determination through administrative and judicial remedies, often with the support of expert reports.
6. Asylum and International Protection Procedures for Unaccompanied Children
6.1. Access to procedure and types of status
Unaccompanied children can qualify for different forms of international protection in Turkey, depending on their circumstances:
- Refugee or conditional refugee status, where they have a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons such as race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.
- Subsidiary protection, where they do not meet the strict refugee definition but face a real risk of serious harm, for example death penalty, torture or indiscriminate violence resulting from armed conflict.
- Temporary protection, generally applicable in mass influx contexts, where individual refugee status determinations are replaced by group-based protection.
- Humanitarian residence permits, where removal would be incompatible with the child’s circumstances but formal international protection status is not granted.
The key point is that children must have effective access to these procedures. They should never be refused registration or access to protection solely because they are children or arrived irregularly.
6.2. Guardianship, representation and legal aid
Because unaccompanied children lack parental representation, authorities must ensure that a guardian or representative is appointed without delay. In the Turkish system, this typically requires:
- involvement of child protection institutions;
- initiation of guardianship or representation procedures before the relevant civil court;
- appointment of a lawyer through legal aid schemes once there is a pending international protection or deportation procedure.
The role of guardians and lawyers is not symbolic. They must:
- receive copies of all administrative decisions;
- be informed of interviews and hearings;
- have the opportunity to submit evidence and arguments;
- assist the child in expressing views and making informed choices.
Where guardianship is delayed or ineffective, lawyers and NGOs can rely on child-rights arguments to push for proper representation, pointing out that decisions taken without a guardian in place may not respect the best interests principle.
6.3. Child-sensitive interviews and credibility assessment
Interviews form the heart of the international protection procedure. With children, they must be adapted in both form and substance. Good practice includes:
- conducting interviews in safe, quiet and non-threatening rooms;
- limiting the length of interviews and including breaks;
- using an interpreter who has experience with children and speaks the appropriate dialect;
- avoiding accusatory, rapid-fire or confusing questions;
- allowing the presence of a trusted adult, guardian or lawyer;
- explaining the process in simple terms that the child can understand.
Children often have difficulty recalling precise dates, political details or geographical information. Past trauma, fear and guilt may further affect memory. Decision-makers must therefore apply a child-sensitive credibility assessment, taking into account:
- age and maturity;
- educational background;
- psychological state;
- cultural barriers.
Minor inconsistencies, especially regarding time, distance or minor details, should not automatically result in negative credibility findings. Instead, authorities should examine whether the core elements of the account are coherent and plausible when compared with country of origin information.
6.4. Prioritisation and timeframes
Unaccompanied children should benefit from prioritised processing. Long delays in status determination can harm their mental health and hinder integration, education and planning for the future. At the same time, prioritisation must not become a pretext for rushed or superficial decisions. A balanced approach is required:
- short waiting times for first interview;
- reasonable time to gather evidence and prepare the case;
- accelerated appeals procedures where appropriate;
- ongoing best-interests assessments throughout the process.
7. Reception Conditions, Detention and Everyday Rights
7.1. Accommodation and care
Once identified, unaccompanied children should be referred to child-appropriate accommodation managed or supervised by child protection authorities. Options include:
- larger state-run childcare institutions;
- smaller group homes;
- foster families, where available;
- specialised units for children with specific needs (for example, survivors of trafficking or serious trauma).
Key standards for accommodation:
- safety and protection from violence and exploitation;
- respect for privacy and dignity;
- access to education, health care, leisure and cultural activities;
- opportunities to participate in decisions about daily life.
Overcrowding, lack of individualised attention and absence of trained staff can undermine these standards. For legal practitioners, monitoring reception conditions is important not only from a human-rights perspective but also because poor conditions may affect the child’s credibility, behaviour and mental health.
7.2. Education and health care
International and domestic law recognise the right of every child to education and access to health care without discrimination. For unaccompanied children with international protection needs, this implies:
- timely enrolment in public schools or alternative programmes, taking into account language learning and recognition of previous schooling;
- provision of health services, including vaccinations, dental care and chronic disease management;
- mental health and psychosocial support, particularly for those who experienced violence, loss or torture.
Access barriers can include language, documentation issues, discrimination or limited capacity in local schools and health centres. Strategic litigation and advocacy have a role in ensuring that ministries and local authorities implement inclusive policies rather than ad-hoc solutions.
7.3. Detention and alternatives
A central question is whether unaccompanied children may be detained for migration-related reasons, for example in removal centres. International guidance is clear: deprivation of liberty on the basis of migration status is never in the child’s best interests and should be avoided. The preferred approach is:
- no detention at all for unaccompanied minors;
- use of open or semi-open child-protection facilities;
- if exceptional short-term restrictions are imposed for identity checks or safety reasons, they must be clearly justified, subject to judicial control and accompanied by appropriate safeguards.
In practice, unaccompanied children may end up in removal centres due to registration as adults, documentation errors or capacity problems in child-protection facilities. In such cases, lawyers can challenge detention orders by invoking:
- the best interests principle;
- the disproportionate impact of detention on children;
- the availability of less restrictive alternatives.
Administrative courts and, where necessary, higher courts may play a key role in shaping jurisprudence towards a genuine “no child in immigration detention” policy.
8. Durable Solutions: Beyond Temporary Protection
8.1. Concept of durable solutions
International protection status is not an end in itself. For unaccompanied children, authorities must aim at a durable solution that secures their long-term safety and development. Three classical options are:
- Return and reintegration in the country of origin, if and when conditions permit and if this is genuinely in the child’s best interests.
- Local integration in the country of asylum, including secure status, full access to rights and eventual path to citizenship where possible.
- Resettlement or relocation to a third country, typically in cooperation with UNHCR or other states.
For each child, authorities should conduct a best-interests determination to identify which option is most appropriate. Factors include:
- nature and gravity of risks in the country of origin;
- existence or absence of family or caregivers abroad;
- child’s links to the host society (schooling, language, social network);
- child’s own wishes and perspectives about the future.
8.2. Family tracing and family reunification
One of the priorities for unaccompanied children is to clarify what happened to their families. Family tracing may be carried out with the help of international organisations, NGOs and consular authorities, always subject to confidentiality and safety.
If parents or other suitable caregivers are located in a safe context, family reunification can be considered:
- in the host country, where legal possibilities exist;
- in a third country;
- in the country of origin, provided that return is safe and in the child’s best interests.
Family reunification procedures can be lengthy and bureaucratic. Legal support is often necessary to navigate visa systems, documentation requirements and proof of family links.
8.3. Local integration in Turkey
Many unaccompanied children who obtain international protection status eventually build their lives in Turkey. Local integration involves more than legal status; it is a multi-dimensional process:
- Legal dimension: secure residence, protection against refoulement, access to civil documentation.
- Economic dimension: vocational training, job opportunities once they reach adulthood, recognition of qualifications.
- Social and cultural dimension: language acquisition, inclusion in schools and neighbourhoods, protection from discrimination.
For former unaccompanied children, the transition to adulthood is critical. Once they turn 18, some child-specific safeguards disappear. Ensuring continuity of status, access to higher education and employment support is therefore essential to avoid sudden marginalisation.
8.4. Resettlement and complementary pathways
A smaller number of unaccompanied children may be resettled from Turkey to third countries through programmes coordinated by UNHCR or states. Criteria vary, but typically include:
- compelling protection needs;
- lack of viable prospects for local integration;
- particular vulnerabilities (serious medical conditions, survivors of torture, etc.).
In addition, complementary pathways such as humanitarian admissions, scholarships or private sponsorship schemes are increasingly explored. Legal practitioners can assist by documenting the child’s profile and liaising with relevant organisations.
9. Practice-Based Challenges and Strategic Recommendations
9.1. Gaps between law and practice
Despite an increasingly sophisticated legal framework, several problems remain in practice:
- Inconsistent identification of unaccompanied children at borders and inside the territory.
- Delays or gaps in guardianship, leaving children without effective representation at crucial moments.
- Use of adult procedures and environments that are not child-friendly.
- Occasional detention of children in removal centres, especially where age is disputed.
- Difficulties in accessing education and health services, particularly in areas with high numbers of refugees.
- Limited availability of qualified interpreters trained to work with children.
- Fragmented data and lack of unified monitoring systems.
Addressing these issues requires a combination of litigation, advocacy, training and cooperation between state institutions and civil society.
9.2. Strategic role of lawyers and NGOs
For lawyers, NGOs and social workers, several strategic interventions can significantly improve the protection of unaccompanied children:
- Early intervention at first contact
- Insist on registration as children where there are indications of minority.
- Challenge rushed or purely medical age assessments.
- Guardianship and legal aid
- Request immediate appointment of a guardian; if delayed, ask courts and administrative authorities to postpone non-urgent decisions until representation is ensured.
- Use legal aid mechanisms to provide continuous support, including in appeals and detention challenges.
- Child-sensitive case preparation
- Spend time building trust with the child, explaining rights and procedures in simple language.
- Work with psychologists and social workers to assess trauma and vulnerabilities.
- Document child-specific persecution – for example, forced recruitment, family violence, sexual abuse, discriminatory denial of education.
- Litigation on systemic issues
- Challenge unlawful detention of minors and seek precedents that clearly restrict the use of migration detention for children.
- Make strategic use of the best-interests principle in deportation and status cases.
- Where necessary, bring cases to higher courts or international bodies to clarify standards.
- Monitoring and advocacy
- Document patterns of malpractice (e.g., systematic registration of 17-year-olds as adults).
- Engage in dialogue with authorities to refine standard operating procedures.
- Provide training and awareness-raising for officials, teachers and health personnel.
9.3. Importance of individualised, holistic assessments
Perhaps the most important message is that there is no typical unaccompanied child. Every case involves a unique combination of factors:
- age and maturity;
- family history and cultural background;
- experiences in the country of origin;
- journey and experiences in transit;
- current living conditions in Turkey;
- aspirations, fears and abilities.
International protection status must therefore be determined through individualised examination, not by applying presumption based solely on nationality or route of entry. The same is true for decisions on detention, reception and durable solutions.
10. Conclusion
The international protection status of unaccompanied children in Turkey is a complex intersection of refugee law, human rights law, child protection rules and migration management. On paper, the legal framework offers strong tools: recognition of unaccompanied minors as a vulnerable group, emphasis on the best interests principle, the prohibition of refoulement and the link with child-protection institutions.
However, practical implementation remains uneven. Structural challenges – high numbers of arrivals, limited resources, institutional fragmentation and sometimes conflicting policy priorities – can result in failures to identify children, gaps in guardianship, inappropriate detention or insufficient access to basic services.
For practitioners, the key is to use the law dynamically:
- to insist that children are recognised as such and registered accordingly;
- to ensure that procedures are genuinely child-sensitive;
- to demand that detention is replaced by community-based alternatives;
- to push for durable solutions that respect the child’s rights and aspirations.
Unaccompanied children have already endured journeys that most adults would find unbearable. A well-functioning international protection system does not simply prevent their return to danger; it offers them a real chance to rebuild their lives in safety and dignity. Turkey, as a major host and transit country, occupies a central position in this effort. Ensuring that its practice fully reflects the rights of unaccompanied children is both a legal duty and a moral imperative.
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