THE WELFARE OF THE CHILD IN ASYLUM AND RESIDENCE LAW

YouTube Premiere "From Kreisky's living room"

In co-operation with the Austrian Society for Exile Research

A DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT OF THE CHILD WELFARE COMMISSION

Flight and exile almost always mean severe and lasting burdens for children. The protection of the best interests of the child is therefore defined as a primary principle in all international and national legal norms. However, the way this is dealt with in the reality of everyday political life is usually different and accepts the traumatisation of children. In this country, the issue of respecting the best interests of the child in asylum and right of residence procedures became the centre of controversy in February of this year when three underage schoolgirls integrated in Austria were deported to Georgia and Armenia. Subsequently, a panel of experts was entrusted with the task of evaluating and reporting on the practical handling and significance of the best interests of the child and children's rights in Austrian law and in administrative and judicial decisions. As a continuation of the first symposium on the topic held in May What flight and migration do to children, After the first event, which shed light on psychological and legal issues, this second event with an expanded line-up analyses the recently published report of the Child Welfare Commission.

Participants:

Professor Dr Ernst Berger, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Medical University of Vienna

Dr Maria Berger, lawyer, former Minister of Justice and former judge of the European Court of Justice

Dr Irmgard Griess, Lawyer, Head of the Child Welfare Commission, former President of the Supreme Court

Dr Gerald Knaus, Sociologist, European Stability Initiative, Berlin

Dr Nora Ramirez-Castillo, Psychologist and psychotherapist, Hemayat

Professor Dr Christoph Reinprecht, Sociologist, Vice-Rector, University of Vienna

Professor Dr Philipp Ther, MA., historian, University of Vienna

Em. Distinguished Professor Dr DDr.h.c. Ruth Wodak, linguistic sociologist and discourse researcher, University of Lancaster/University of Vienna

Lisa Wolfsegger, expert on child refugees, Asylum Coordination Austria