Vulnerable persons and unaccompanied minors (UMAS)

The Asylum Act stipulates that vulnerable persons, women and victims of torture enjoy special protection. Victims of human trafficking can also be granted asylum. Unfortunately, victims of violence do not enjoy any special protection under the Asylum Act. Even though, according to the government's fourth report under the UN Convention against Torture, they are given special protection in practice, there are still no standardized processes for recognizing and dealing with victims of violence in the asylum procedure or in the care of asylum seekers. It is a major challenge to identify and support people affected or traumatized by human trafficking in the asylum system.

Unaccompanied minor asylum seekers (UMAs) are a particularly vulnerable group. These are children and young people under the age of 18 who enter a country without their parents or other adults with an official parental obligation and apply for asylum there. In Liechtenstein, too, a small number of UMAs have regularly been in the care of refugee aid and the responsible authorities for years.

UMAs have special protection rights, which are enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and demanded by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The care of underage asylum seekers is regulated in Art. 12 of the Asylum Act and Art. 9 of the Asylum Ordinance. The Asylum Ordinance stipulates that UMAs aged 16 and over can be accommodated in the regular structures of the reception center for asylum seekers, provided that the Office for Social Services (ASD) does not raise any objections, and that only UMAs under the age of 16 receive a person of trust appointed by the ASD to accompany and support them in the asylum procedure. These provisions violate the rights of UMAs formulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as they treat young people aged 16 and over as adults.

 

 

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