Unaccompanied children in Russia: returning, reception services and follow-up Dr. Olga Kolpakova, Head of Prevention Programs, Regional NGO “Stellit”

Transnational cooperation between authorities and private partners It is based on the UN Convention on the rights of the child and international agreements. In case there is no agreements Ministry of Foreign Affairs gets involved. Private companies, international organizations and NGOs join when there is no international agreement between Russia and the country where child is from. Main achievement – in most cases all the partners are interested in cooperation.

Transnational cooperation between authorities and private partners (end) Main challenges: - language barrier, - it takes a lot of time to get information from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, - in case there is no money to return the child he/she should stay in Russia longer than it could be.

Return and transnational transfers -3 main ways: via centers for minor offenders, via transit centers or via the Embassy of the country of origin -Child should return back to the country of origin in all cases except he/she has a status of refugee -Child gets medical, social, juridical and psychological assistance before return -It costs around 4400 – EUR from case assessment to return, the costs are mostly covered by the Russian Government

Return and transnational transfers (end) Main challenges: -Procedure of the case assessment depends a lot on the local partner in the country of origin -It is hard to keep cultural identity of the child -In case of staying in the center for minor offenders children could be regarded as those who committed crimes -Return could be long and traumatic process -Russian governmental organizations don’t have resources for follow-up -Child has no option to stay in Russia if not a refugee

Returning child victims of trafficking - No specific institutions for such children but some transit shelters have special assistance programs -Child doesn’t get a status of victim so he/she should be returned to the country of origin anyways (in case of no refugee status) -Could be lack of reintegration programs in the country of origin -It is very hard to start case in court

Recommendations -To accelerate the procedure of collecting data and return -To return all children who have not committed criminal crimes only via transit shelters -To strengthen legislation and to provide child victims of trafficking with the status of victim and with an opportunity to stay in Russia in case it is in his/her best interests -To improve the case assessment procedures in the countries of origin -To make sure in the countries of origin there are reintegration programs for child victims of trafficking

Please don’t hesitate to contact me in case of any questions Dr. Olga Kolpakova Head of Prevention Programs at Regional NGO Stellit Address: Russia, St. Petersburg, Mira st., b. 3, of. 507B Tel./fax +7 (812)