COMPLAINT
The complainant organisation alleged that foreign children living accompanied or not, either as illegal residents or asylum seekers in Belgium, were excluded from social assistance in breach of Articles 7§10 (special protection against physical and moral dangers), 11 (right to health), 13 (right to social and medical assistance), 16 (right to appropriate social, legal and economic protection for the family), 17 (right of children and young persons to appropriate social, legal and economic protection) and 30 (right to protection against poverty and social exclusion) alone or read in conjunction with Article E (non-discrimination) of the European Social Charter (revised).
CONCLUSION
The European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) of the Council of Europe has concluded in a judgment issued on 23 October 2012 and published on 21 March 2013 that there are significant and persistent deficiencies in the care of foreign children in Belgium which violate their right to special protection against physical and moral dangers, their right to the protection of health and the right to social, legal and economic protection in accordance with the European Social Charter (ESC).
Following the conclusion, the children’s rights organisations Defence for Children Belgium, Service droit des jeunes and Plate-forme Mineurs en exil now demand the state of Belgium to implement the decision of the European Committee of Social Rights by adopting a protocol with structural solutions to guarantee the rights of foreign children in the country.
English
Jurisdiction:
Article 13 - Right to social and medical assistance
Article 16 - The right of the family to social, legal and economic protection
Article 17 - Right of children and young persons to social, legal and economic protection
Article 30 - Right to protection against poverty and social exclusion
Article E - Non-discrimination
Subject:
Discrimination
Health
Right to housing
