CONRED

The CON RED project: the virtual community against violence towards immigrant children and teenagers WITHOUT a social support NETWORK was founded in 2000 to find answers to the numerous questions that professionals at two Barcelona social intervention agencies raised in light of a new phenomenon that has been taking place since 1998 in the city’s streets: unaccompanied migrant minors¹.

These agencies approached the Fundación Pere Tarrés at the Universidad Ramon Lull to carry out joint research and analysis into this new type of migration, non-existent until then in Spain. The CON RED project was the result of this combination of theory and practice, started after 2001 thanks to funding obtained from the European Union’s Daphne Programme.

The aim of the CON RED project, true to its roots, has been at all times to convert research and knowledge of the subject into a tool to improve care for unaccompanied migrant minors and to help the institutions involved to improve their actions.

Besides this, work aimed at getting closer to the phenomenon has been carried out from the start considering its European dimension. To this effect, it was observed very early on that the presence of unaccompanied migrant minors was a phenomenon on the rise in other European cities.

The CON RED project has been carried out in two phases. In the first, completed in 2001, an initial comparative study was carried out of the dimensions and scope of the phenomenon of children and adolescent unaccompanied migrants in the countries involved in the project: Spain, Belgium, Denmark, France and Switzerland. As a result of this analysis, an initial Comparative Report and Best Practices Document were published in March 2002. In the second phase, carried out in
2003 and 2004, the initial aim was expanded with a detailed analysis into the countries that have already been studied; with the incorporation of the information from three new countries (Italy, Portugal and Ireland); and with the incorporation of the research into the causes of the phenomenon in the two main countries of origin of North Africa, Morocco and Algeria.

As a consequence of this second phase, and under the common title of Routes of Small Dreams. Unaccompanied Migrant Minors in Europe, we have drafted and published a total of six documents in March, including this Comparative Report. Each of these six documents constitutes a basic piece to help us understand the complex puzzle of the phenomenon studied and they all enrich the Comparative Report that constitutes the main piece.

This Comparative Report offers a comparative analysis of the situation of unaccompanied migrant minors in eight European Union countries and compares it with the existing data from other European countries. It also offers an innovative element: the research carried out is trans-national in nature, as the reality in both the destination and host countries of these minors and in their countries of origin has also been taken into account.

The report has three parts. The first, theoretical in nature, covers basic concepts: method, migratory movements and childhood, and the social image of migrant minors. The diversity of classifications used to refer to these children and young people is studied, as is the historical background to the phenomenon.

The second part analyses the context of migrant minors in their countries of origin and their departure process. The socio-demographic characteristics of the minors are analysed, the context of their option to migrate and the route that they take to reach Europe.

And the third part takes us to the minors’ destination countries. It analyses European migratory and childhood policies, reception procedures and the care mechanisms for unaccompanied migrant minors.

All of this trans-national research has been carried out with the support of a virtual space (www.peretarres.org/daphneconred), which has fostered online work between the teams in the different countries involved, and, at the same time, has helped with the public dissemination of the project and its results.

The final part of the report, after the conclusions, offers 12 recommendations. This is because, as we have already stated, with this extensive study into the phenomenon of unaccompanied migrant minors in Europe, we do not want simply to go in depth into the knowledge and the analysis of this new reality, but we also hope to contribute to improving their reception, their care and their integration in our society, and so ensure that one day their small dreams will come true.

Under the common title of ROUTES OF SMALL DREAMS. Unaccompanied Migrant Minors in Europe, we have drafted and published a further five publications that complement and enrich this Comparative Report:

1.	The Minutes of the European Seminar on Unaccompanied Migrant Minors in Europe, which we held in Barcelona on 13 and 14 May 2004, and which was attended by 120 experts and professionals from nine European countries and two African countries.
2.	Educational Materials to raise awareness and for the training of professionals who work or who will be working with unaccompanied migrant minors.
3.	Life Stories, Voices from Nine Places in the World, which offer the life experiences of nine unaccompanied migrant minors from nine countries in Europe, Africa and Asia.
4.	Other Life Stories, Voices from the Maghreb: young people and families, where 10 young people and 10 families from Algeria and Morocco tell of their migratory experience.
5.	A Best Practices Report. to improve the models of care for unaccompanied migrant minors, based on the knowledge of legislation, the most successful European experiences and the application of 14 basic principles.

All of the documents will be available at the following website: www.peretarres.org/daphneconred

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1. This report will talk about lone or unaccompanied minors, who emigrate to Europe as: Unaccompanied Migrant Minors (UMMs). Specifically, in chapter 2, the reasons for this new classification will be given.