The challenges that Spain must take on following the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child in the framework of unaccompanied foreign minors: towards a new system of protection for adolescents

Abstract

In the framework of unaccompanied foreign minors, the current Spanish Adolescents Protection System and malpractice by our Public Administration does not allow us to comply with the recommendations that the Committee on the Rights of the Child has made to our country. Faced with this situation, the present paper examines the latest periodic reports that Spain presented to the Committee and its observations, in order to make proposals for improvement in the following aspects: inaccuracy regarding the number and situation of unaccompanied foreign minors who are found in Spain; the insufficient economic investment that our country allocates to the protection for adolescents system; and the lack of concordance between the Spanish regulations applicable to unaccompanied foreign minors and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, paying special attention to the entire age determination procedure.