Between July 2026 and June 2028, the International Commission of Jurists–European Institutions (ICJ-EI), together with partners, implements the two-year project Guaranteeing, Upholding And Respecting the rights of children at risk of Detention (GUARD).
Under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and international human rights law, children in migration must be protected from detention and rights violations. The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, adopted in 2024, introduces legislative changes that, when implemented at the national level, risk undermining children’s rights, particularly through accelerated procedures and increased detention.
This project aims to strengthen the protection of migrant children by promoting the application of the EU Charter and international standards in the implementation of the EU Pact. Through strategic engagement, capacity building, and cooperation, it aims to support Member States in brining national practices into conformity with EU and international obligations and to enable cooperation and the development of best-practice, rights-based solutions. Specifically, this project focuses on the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Ireland, and Greece, which share persistent issues in upholding migrant children’s rights yet face different challenges, including age assessment requirements, access to legal representation in asylum cases, and immigration detention.
The project partners are:
- Forum for Human Rights (FORUM) – the Czech Republic
- Foundation for Access to Rights (FAR) – Bulgaria
- Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) – Greece
- Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI) – Ireland
The overall objective of the project is to promote the implementation the EU Pact in accordance with the EU Charter and international human rights law, both in target countries and, potentially, in other EU Member States. This will be achieved by:
- Enhancing the capacity of national authorities, national human rights institutions (NHRIs), equality bodies, ombudsman institutions, civil society organizations (CSOs, and legal practitioners in the target Member States to apply the EU Pact in ways that protect the rights of migrant children who are at risk of, or subject to, immigration detention.
- Strengthening cooperation and exchange among legal practitioners, State authorities, and EU actors involved in implementing the EU Pact to address legal and practical gaps and safeguard human rights and the rights of the child.
- Increasing awareness among legal practitioners, national authorities, and EU actors in the target Member States and beyond of the harmful impact of detention on migrant children.
The project’s main target groups include specialized migration lawyers and CSOs, national authorities, NHRIs and ombuds institutions, and EU-level actors. The final beneficiaries of the project are migrant children subject to or at risk of immigration detention. By engaging strategically with institutions in the target Member States and at the EU level, the project aims to reduce detention rates and improve legal protections for migrant children in the medium and long-term.
Main activities include:
- Baseline study
- National workshops with legal professionals, CSOs, and national authorities, participating in Bulgaria, Czechia, Greece and Ireland
- Transnational workshops in Belgium and Ireland
- International synthesis report, addressing the main issues to consider during the implementation of the EU Pact in relation to immigration detention, drawing on comparative examples from each of the target countries.
- Comparative legal brief incorporating specific information gained through the project regarding best practices for implementation and application in the four target EU Member States
- Expert interviews published online
- Leaflets for lawyers
Through these activities, the GUARD project aims to improve legal protections for migrant children and promote adherence to the EU Charter and international standards in Member States’ implementation of the EU Pact.
Co-funded by the European Union.
Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
