HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION FOR VULNERABLE ASYLUM APPLICANTS

Venetikidou Aikaterini 2 that has progressed rapidly ever since 2015. The latest UNHCR’s Report 2 demon- strates that 32,500 refugees and migrants arrived at the Iberian Peninsula during the last trimester of 2019, originating primarily fromMorocco, Guinea, Algeria, Mali, Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal. According to Eurostat 3 , 17.675 unaccompanied children claimed asylum in 2019. In Portugal, during 2019, the number of asylum seekers reached the total of 1.849, out of which, 195 were granted the Refugee Status and 55 were unaccompanied mi- nors 4 . Themost common nationalities included African countries such as Guinea-Bis- sau, Gambia and Senegal, and the average age of the unaccompanied minors was between 16 to 17 years old. Furthermore, according to AIDA 5 , a total of 103 unaccom- panied minors, including those absconded and those that were later determined to be adults were accommodated by CPR. Portugal’s response to the asylumprocedures for unaccompanied minors has been described as exemplary, taking into considera- tion though the relatively lownumber of incomingminors so far, whichmakes it man- ageable for the national organizations and service authorities. The Portuguese Aliens and Borders Service ( Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras - SEF ), however, reports that the biggest issues with minor asylum applicants is usually the lack of birth records, the lack of identification or residence documents and their dubious authenticity 6 . In the first part, the theoretical framework of the research is established. The theoretical framework zooms in unaccompanied children in the context of Portugal. Moreover, events related to UAM ( Unaccompanied asylum-seekingminors ) that occurred during the conduction of this study are also explored in this part. The second part of the re- search examines the international, European and national legislation, focusing on the most notable legal provisions related to unaccompanied minors. The objectives, the main questions of the research, themethodology and the sample are all demonstrat- ed in depth in this section. Finally, the last part of the research consists of the results derived from interviews with professionals in an attempt to identify the challenges in the implementation of the legal framework, as well the relevant discussion. Con- clusions, limitations and recommendations for further research are discussed at the end of this section. 2. UNHCR. (2020). Europe Monthly Update - December 2019 . Retrieved from: https://data2.unhcr.org/ en/documents/download/74140. 3. Eurostat (2020). Asylumapplicants considered to be unaccompaniedminors - annual data . Retrieved from: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tps00194/default/table?lang=en. 4. AIDA. (2019). Asylum Information Database, national report: Portugal 2019 . Retrieved from: http:// www.asylumineurope.org/sites/default/files/report-download/aida_pt_2019update.pdf. 5. AIDA. Asylum Information Database . 6. SEF. (2018). Relatório de Imigração, Fronteiras e Asilo . Retrieved from: https://sefstat.sef.pt/Docs/ Rifa2018.pdf.