How are unaccompanied migrant children treated when they reach Europe’s borders? This lecture explores the legal and practical challenges surrounding their reception and protection through the lens of international human rights law. Drawing on the jurisprudence of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the European courts, and the recent EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, it examines the persistent gaps between legal standards and state practice, with particular attention to current developments in age assessment, procedural safeguards, and immigration detention.
Prof. Valentina Milano holds a PhD in Law from the University of the Balearic Islands, a Law degree from the University of Pavia, and a Master’s in International and European Law from Paris XI University. She has over ten years of experience within the United Nations system, having worked at UNESCO, the World Health Organization, and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, including collaboration with several UN Special Rapporteurs. Since 2013, she has been a professor at the University of the Balearic Islands, specializing in International Law, Human Rights, Gender Equality, and human trafficking, and directing a postgraduate course on trafficking. She regularly publishes and lectures on these topics and advises public authorities, notably contributing to legislative work on human trafficking and migration, including the draft Spanish law on human trafficking.