Unaccompanied minor migrants are underage migrants, who for various reasons leave their country and are separated from their parents or legal/customary guardians. Some of them live entirely by themselves, while others join their relatives or other adults in a foreign country. The concept of the best interests of a child is widely applied in international, national legal documents and several guidelines and often pertains to unaccompanied minor migrants given that they are separated from parents, who are not able to exercise their basic parental responsibilities. This book takes an in-depth look at the issues surrounding the best interests of the child in relation to unaccompanied minor migrants drawing on social, legal and political sciences in order to understand children’s rights not only as a matter of positive law but mainly as a social practice depending on personal biographies, community histories and social relations of power.

The book tackles the interpretation of the rights of the child and the best interests principle in the case of unaccompanied minor migrants in Europe at political, legal and practical levels. In its first part the book considers theoretical aspects of children’s rights and the best interests of the child in relation to unaccompanied minor migrants. Adopting a critical approach to the implementation of the Convention of Rights of a Child authors nevertheless confirm its relevance for protecting minor migrants’ rights in practice. Authors deconstruct power relations residing within the discourses of children’s rights and best interests, demonstrating that these rights are constructed and decided upon by those in power who make decisions on behalf of those who do not possess authority. Authors further on explore normative and methodological aspects of Article 3 of the Convention on the Rights of a Child and its relevance for asylum and migration legislation.

The second part of the book goes on to examine the actual legal framework related to unaccompanied minor migrants and implementation of children’s’ rights and their best interests in the reception, protection, asylum and return procedures. The case studies are based on from the empirical research, on interviews with key experts and unaccompanied minor migrants in Austria, France, Slovenia and United Kingdom. Examining age assessment procedures, unaccompanied minors’ survivals strategies and their everyday life in reception centres the contributors point to the discrepancy between the states’ obligations to take the best interest of the child into account when dealing with unaccompanied minor migrants, and the lack of formal procedures of best interest determination in practice. The chapters expose weaknesses and failures of institutionalized systems in selected European countries in dealing with unaccompanied children and young people on the move.

Girma Biresaw received a Ph.D. in Physical-Organic Chemistry from the University of California, Davis. As a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of California, Santa Barbara, he investigated reaction kinetics and products in surfactant-based organized assemblies for four years. As a scientist at the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa), he conducted research in tribology, surface/colloid science, and adhesion for 12 years. Girma is currently a Research Chemist / Lead Scientist at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the US Department of Agriculture in Peoria, IL, where he is conducting research in tribology, adhesion, and surface/colloid science in support of programs aimed at developing biobased products from farm-based raw materials. Girma has authored/co-authored more than 300 scientific publications, including more than 85 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 6 patents and 7 edited books. Girma is a Fellow of the STLE and an Editorial Board Member for the Journal of Biobased Materials and Bioenergy.

K. L. Mittal received his PhD from the University of Southern California in 1970 and was associated with IBM Corp. from 1972 to 1994. He is currently teaching and consulting worldwide in the areas of adhesion and surface cleaning. He is the editor of 122 published books, as well as others that are in the process of publication, within the realms of surface and colloid science and of adhesion. He has received many awards and honors and is listed in many biographical reference works. Dr. Mittal was a founding editor of the Journal of Adhesion Science and Technology and was its Editor-in-Chief until April 2012. He has served on the editorial boards of a number of scientific and technical journals. He was recognized for his contributions and accomplishments by the international adhesion community that organized the First International Congress on Adhesion Science and Technology in Amsterdam in 1995 on the occasion of his 50th birthday (235 papers from 38 countries were presented). In 2002, he was honored by the global surfactant community, which instituted the Kash Mittal Award in the surfactant field in his honor. In 2003 he was honored by the Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Lublin, Poland, which awarded him the title of doctor honoris causa. In 2010 he was honored by both adhesion and surfactant communities on the occasion of publication of his 100th edited book. In 2012, he initiated a new journal titled Reviews of Adhesion and Adhesives.