EU Court Strengthens Rights of Migrant Minors by Overruling Germany’s Family Reunification Rule
On Monday, August 1, the EU Court of Justice found that the German authorities unlawfully denied the protection of young asylum seekers and released four decisions, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
The Court of Justice ruled that the German system of denying the right of migrant minors from Syria to reunite with their family in Germany violated the law of the EU.
“The refusal to issue a national visa for the purposes of Family Reunification to the parent of an unaccompanied refugee minor, which has become an adult during this procedure, is contrary to EU law,” the EU Court of Justice wrote on its official Twitter account.
The Court of Justice said that all unaccompanied children who were minors at the time the application for family reunification was lodged have the right to be reunited with their families even if they are now over 18.
Thereby, the Court of Justice overruled the German courts regarding the refugees’ and migrants’ rights with respect to family reunification, Info Migrants explains. In addition, the same notes that the Court of Justice also overturned the German rulings on the protection of minors as well as restrictions on child allowance payments.
The same source further explains that the ruling on family reunification concerns two cases. In these two cases, the German authorities denied Syrian nationals from being reunited with their family because they reached the age of majority at the time their application was being processed.
In one case, Syrian parents applied for family reunification with their underage son, whereas in the other case, an underage Syrian female who had refugee status in Germany wanted to reunite with her father. In the two cases, Syrian arrived in Germany in 2015.
“It is not applicable by analogy to a situation in which a minor and his or her parents lodge applications for international protection in the Member State in which that minor was born, in circumstances where his or her parents are already the beneficiaries of international protection in another Member State,” a part of the Court’s judgement reads.
In addition, the Court of Justice said that the families also have the right to reunification even if a visa for the purpose of family reunification is filed by a minor who had reached legal age before the parents were recognised as refugees and before they filed the family reunification application.
In another ruling, the Court of Justice backed the rights of migrant minors applying for international protection in Germany. The Court said that even if parents of migrant minors apply for protection in another EU country, they still have the right to apply in Germany, provided that they themselves had not already applied for protection in another country.
