Published : 02-08-2022
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has overturned a German rule on family reunification, thereby strengthening the rights of underage migrants.
The court ruled that the German practice of denying minors in Syria to reunite with their family in Germany violates EU law.
Was the unaccompanied migrant child a minor at the time the application for family reunification was lodged? If so, the family has a right to be reunited, the highest court of the European Union said on Monday (August 1).
The ruling about family reunification concerns two cases in which German authorities had denied Syrians from being reunited with their family because the applicants or the family members reached the age of majority while the application was processed.
In one of the cases, parents from Syria had applied for family reunification with their underage son, who was recognized as a refugee in Germany. The other case concerned an underage female Syrian who wanted to reunite with her father, who had refugee status in Germany. In both cases, the Syrians had arrived in Germany in 2015.
According to the ECJ, families also retain the right for family reunification if a visa for the purpose of family reuninifiation is filed by a minor who has reached the age of majority before their parents has been recognized as a refugee and before filing the application for family reunification.
So far German authorities checked if a person was underage on the date of calling a decision instead of on the date when the application was first lodged. According to the ECJ judges, this prevailing legal position and existing practice was contrary to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
The court further found that the current practice was contrary to the EU rights charter because it meant the authorities had "no reason to process the applications of minors' parents with the urgency that's necessary to do the minors' vulnerability justice," the judges said.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has overturned a German rule on family reunification, thereby strengthening the rights of underage migrants.
The court ruled that the German practice of denying minors in Syria to reunite with their family in Germany violates EU law.
Was the unaccompanied migrant child a minor at the time the application for family reunification was lodged? If so, the family has a right to be reunited, the highest court of the European Union said on Monday (August 1).
The ruling about family reunification concerns two cases in which German authorities had denied Syrians from being reunited with their family because the applicants or the family members reached the age of majority while the application was processed.
In one of the cases, parents from Syria had applied for family reunification with their underage son, who was recognized as a refugee in Germany. The other case concerned an underage female Syrian who wanted to reunite with her father, who had refugee status in Germany. In both cases, the Syrians had arrived in Germany in 2015.
According to the ECJ, families also retain the right for family reunification if a visa for the purpose of family reuninifiation is filed by a minor who has reached the age of majority before their parents has been recognized as a refugee and before filing the application for family reunification.
So far German authorities checked if a person was underage on the date of calling a decision instead of on the date when the application was first lodged. According to the ECJ judges, this prevailing legal position and existing practice was contrary to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
The court further found that the current practice was contrary to the EU rights charter because it meant the authorities had "no reason to process the applications of minors' parents with the urgency that's necessary to do the minors' vulnerability justice," the judges said.
