Since 2014/15, the migration flows have also brought many minors to germany who were traveling unaccompanied by adults. They presented the authorities with special challenges. At the office for youth and family andreas wedel prepared a summary of the development of the past five years, which is intended as information for the members of the relevant committee in the coburg district council.
Unaccompanied minors from abroad, known in official german as uma for short, do not fall under the normal refugee law responsibilities, explains andreas wedel. They enjoyed special protection. Therefore, the requirements of youth welfare apply to her. "In the district of coburg, the first unaccompanied minors from abroad arrived in september 2014", according to wedel in the information document for the committee members. The arrival of these young people reached its peak about a year later. At that time, around 100 young people between the ages of six and 17 had to be accommodated and cared for.
The specified accommodation in youth welfare facilities could only be managed through broad cooperation. Towns and municipalities made full use of all possibilities and numerous families showed their willingness to take in children and young people. From 2015 to 2017, six residential groups of various sizes existed throughout the county, and there were 28 foster families who had taken in young migrants.
Only one more residential group
Today, all the residential groups specially designed for this purpose have been dissolved. Only one still exists. According to the report from the youth welfare office, this is the group set up at the institute for psychosocial health, which has been further developed into a curative youth welfare facility.
Of the children and adolescents who arrived in the district unaccompanied by adults in 2015, only six are still living in the care of the youth welfare service. They arrived as children and could not be reunited with relatives until today.
Andreas wedel also summarized what became of the other young people in care. He reports: "the spectrum of the further life of the other young people ranges from deportation to successful education and vocational training." wedel cites rohullah mirzai as a happy example. The now 20-year-old can present a certificate of the qualifying secondary school leaving certificate, in which the worst grade is "good" is. So he got an apprenticeship at a large coburg company as a plant and machine operator.
Currently, the district is responsible for 16 young migrants from afghanistan, guinea, iraq, tunisia, somalia, syria and albania. Some of them are still placed in foster families, others in residential groups in coburg, burgkunstadt or bamberg. As a rule, the young people come to coburg according to a nationwide distribution formula. In individual cases, however, the district office also becomes responsible when minors arrive with relatives already living in the district.
The caritas association provides guardianship for the young people concerned on the basis of an agreement with the district office. This has been in force since march 2015 and is now to be extended.
According to the so-called konigsteiner schlussel, unaccompanied migrant minors will continue to be distributed. Accordingly, the responsible offices of the district office expect that around 15 unaccompanied migrant youths will have to be cared for on a permanent basis.
According to the office, the costs for the guardianships are mainly borne by the judiciary. According to the current agreement, the county contributes a monthly flat rate of 45 euros to the total costs.