HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION FOR VULNERABLE ASYLUM APPLICANTS

Venetikidou Aikaterini 6 3. Legal Framework 3.1. Unaccompanied Minors in Portugal The Portuguese Refugee Council ( Conselho Português para os Refugiados - CPR ) is the national entity accountable for providing foster care to unaccompanied minors at the Reception Home for Refugee Children ( Casa de Acolhimento para Crianças Refu- giadas - CACR ), as well as identifying asylum-seeking children in Portugal 18 . Accord- ing to Estoura & Roberto (2019), the CACR is the only reception establishment in Por- tugal exclusively targeted to house asylum-seeking unaccompaniedminors solely as the AsylumLaw 19 foresees. Childrenwho are identified as unaccompaniedminors are described by the AsylumAct 20 as:“ third-country nationals or stateless persons aged less than 18 years who enter national territory without being accompanied by an adult who, by law or custom, is responsible for them, provided they have not been effectively taken into the charge of such a person, or who have been abandoned after having entered na- tional territory. ”Article 2 of the AsylumAct 26/2014, apart fromdefining the term‘un- accompanied minors’, explains the terms ‘particularly vulnerable people’ and ‘repre- sentative’which are interconnected to unaccompanied minors. Moreover, Article 26 of the very same Asylum Act highlights that: “ Temporary accommodation for unac- companied or separated minors is subject to special conditions, pursuant to terms rec- ommended internationally, namely by the UNHCR, UNICEF and the International Com- mittee of the Red Cross ”. Furthermore, Article 79 of the Asylum Act 26/2014, appoints the SEF as the body re- sponsible for reporting to the competent court any application submitted by aminor and to conduct the asylum process overall. The Family and Juvenile Court ( Tribunal de Família e Menores ) 21 is responsible for coping with the care procedures upon the unaccompaniedminor’s arrival in the country. Estoura & Roberto (2019) add that be- tween the asylumand foster care procedures, the only connection is theway inwhich they are introduced and the information exchanged regarding the child identifica- tion or age. It is clarified that a refusal to asylumor withdrawal of foster care does not affect the other procedure as they are based on different criteria. The following ex- ample from Estoura & Roberto’s (2019) paper clarifies exactly the previous condition; in the event that an applicant is proved by the age assessment procedure not to be a child, then foster care is suspended, however, that shall not interfere with the asy- lum application process. 18. Estoura, D., & Roberto, S. (2019). The RAISEmodel: Psychosocial intervention in residential care for refugee unaccompanied minors. Residential Treatment for Children & Youth , 36(2), 102-117. 19. Article 35-B (6) AsylumAct 26/2014. 20. Article 2(1)(m) AsylumAct 26/2014. 21. Child andYouth at Risk Promotion and Protection Act 147/99.