Press release of the Kinderschutzbund, regional association North Rhine-Westphalia

After major online conference: Children's rights also apply to young people with a history of flight and migration

Wuppertal, 01.10.2023

After its successful digital symposium, the North Rhine-Westphalia regional association of the Child Protection League vigorously points out that children's rights for refugee and immigrant children continue to be insufficiently implemented. "In the three central areas of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child - protection, participation, support - there are glaring deficiencies for young people with a history of flight or migration that we cannot accept," summed up Prof. Dr. Gaby Flösser, state chair of the Child Protection League (DKSB) in NRW.

A total of more than 150 experts from politics, science and many different areas of practice came together virtually last Thursday and Friday to gather information, engage in lively discussions, exchange good practice examples and formulate demands to politicians. Participants in the conference included Prof. Dr. Aladin El-Mafaalani (Professor of Education in the Migration Society, University of Osnabrück), Ekin Deligöz (Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs), Heinz Hilgers (Honorary President of the Kinderschutzbund), Lorenz Bahr (State Secretary in the Ministry for Children, Youth, Family, Equality, Flight and Integration of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia), Claudia Kittel (German Institute for Human Rights), Jan Braukmann (UNICEF Germany), numerous other experts from practice and science as well as representatives of the municipalities and state politics. The conference "Children and Adolescents after Flight and Immigration: Protection - Participation - Support" was organized by the North Rhine-Westphalia branch of the Child Protection League in cooperation with the Institute for Social Pedagogy, Adult Education and Pedagogy of Early Childhood at the Technical University of Dortmund.

"In order to uphold children's rights, it is necessary to refrain from housing children in state shelters or large community shelters and instead invest specifically in the expansion of decentralized living space," summed up Renate Blum-Maurice, member of the DKSB state board. Equally important, she said, was quick access to daycare centers, regular schools, leisure activities and youth work. The demand for a reliable financing structure ran through many of the discussions. "Free providers need above all permanent funding for proven offers instead of short-lived programs that come to an end again after only a short time," Renate Blum-Maurice continued. To combat the acute shortage of skilled workers in the short term, DKSB state chairwoman Gaby Flösser proposed broad-based cooperation with all educational institutions.

From the large socio-political analysis to the reality of the municipalities and the carriers of offers for people with flight and migration history: The topic "children and young people after flight and immigration" was illuminated and discussed from many sides at the online conference, and then finally discussed with the spokespersons or representatives of the state parliamentary groups of CDU, Greens, SPD and FDP. It became clear that flight and immigration are permanent challenges for our immigration society. "Short-term bridges must not obscure a necessary fundamental reorientation of all systems of public services and education. It is urgently necessary to set the course for this now, so that the current tense situation does not become a permanent crisis," stated DKSB state chairwoman Gaby Flösser. Socially the priorities would have to be set urgently differently and the child rights and the child well-being be made finally a priority starting point of the considerations.

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The child protection federation regional federation North-Rhine/Westphalia registered association.

Contact: Nicole Vergin

Referent for press and public work

Hofkamp 102, 42103 Wuppertal

Mobile: 0163 699 13 52

E-Mail: n.vergindksb-nrwde

www.dksb-nrw.de

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The child protection association (DKSB) regional organization North-Rhine/Westphalia registered association.

The child protection association makes itself strong in completely Germany for the rights of children and young people. In North Rhine-Westphalia alone there are about 100 local and district associations. They are all united in the NRW state association, the largest state association of the Child Protection League in Germany. The DKSB NRW offers services and support for children and families, intervenes in political discussions and provides impulses for the professional public.

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