¿Donde están los niños sirios? ¿Y dónde están sus derechos? La Unión Europea no puede olvidar sus principios ni traicionarse a sí misma

Abstract

The paper deals with the situation of Syrian children in three different contexts. In Syrian armed conflict, children suffer systematic violations of International Humanitarian Law and International Law of Human Rights. The international community and the EU strongly condemn such attacks and undertake enormous efforts to ensure Humanitarian aid. However, they cannot end the suffering of minors and, as regards the EU, this seems to be largely due to a Common Foreign and Security Policy still to be consolidated. Children refugees of the neighbouring countries, Turkey included, live mostly below the poverty line and without such basic rights as education and health. The European Neighbourhood Policy, still to be defined, cannot be legitimised with the mere transfer of humanitarian funds without setting up in parallel verification mechanisms of fundamental rights. In the Area of FJS, the control of external and internal borders prevails over the protection of Syrian refugees, and the renewed Common European Asylum Policy is still under discussion in Brussels. Moreover, the current political context is not convenient to launch a high level discussion for a long-term EU Migration Policy. Despite the difficulties, in the abovementioned three contexts the EU cannot forget its principles and values, including the protection of fundamental rights and the infancy, or betray itself.