Child Protection Law Consultant

Terms of Reference

General Background of Project or Assignment:

In 2022, more than 3,000 unaccompanied and separated children applied for international protection in Bulgaria – and in the first eight months of 2023 more than 2,400 applications were received from unaccompanied and separated children mainly from Afghanistan and Syria, with 589 unaccompanied Ukrainian children having registered under the Temporary Protection Regime since its introduction in the country.

UNHCR in Bulgaria seeks to strengthen the identification and response systems for the protection of children at risk across the different migration routes, guaranteeing their inclusion in national systems of protection and its mandated agencies, through the timely and effective identification of specific needs and referral pathways to multisectoral quality services.

While over recent years progress has been made towards improving the legislative and policy framework concerning unaccompanied children, adequate identification, referral and care and representation of unaccompanied and separated children seeking or granted protection, within the national child protection system is not yet sufficiently ensured.

While the Law on Foreigners exempts unaccompanied children from immigration detention for the purpose of return, gaps in the identification of such children upon first contact by the Border or National Police upon apprehension following irregular entry at the border or in-land, may prevent them from benefiting from this safeguard in practice. These gaps due to, among others, lack of adequate interpretation and presence of social workers, may result in unaccompanied children being incorrectly registered as accompanied or adult and placed in detention, instead of being accommodated within the national child protection system or, if applying for international protection, being referred to SAR.

The Law on Asylum and Refugees provides that UASC can be accommodated with relatives, foster families, in residential care services, in accordance with the Law on Child Protection or in other places of accommodation with special conditions for children. In practice, however, due to lack of administrative, residential and financial capacity of national social services, including lack of specialized centres for children, language training and lack of experience with UASC, they are accommodated at SAR centres, currently in two “safe zones” in Sofia, managed by IOM, on the premises of two registration-reception centres. The zones have separate entrance and security system, and social workers are present 24/7. Nevertheless, given the large capacity of the zones and the need to share some common premises with adults, they do not sufficiently guarantee appropriate reception, care and safety of the children accommodated there. When the capacity of the zones is exceeded, children are accommodated outside the zones. While recently some progress has been made regarding accommodation of unaccompanied children at residential care facilities within the national child protection system, with some municipalities establishing dedicated facilities including a crisis center (Ruse municipality) and pilot residential care service (Oborishte district), the capacity is insufficient to accommodate the significant number of children.

Legislative changes regarding the representation of unaccompanied children introduced in 2020 envisaging the appointment of lawyers from the national Bureau for legal aid as representatives constitute an improvement compared to previous arrangements under which an employee the municipality, without the necessary qualifications, undertook this role. Nevertheless, while some lawyers have acquired significant experience and are able to discharge their duty to provide quality legal assistance and support to the children they represent, the quality of legal representation is not fully and consistently ensured, despite regular training. Currently, the LAR only regulates the representation of children seeking international protection and does not explicitly provide for the appointment of representatives to unaccompanied children under TP. Amendments to LAR to address this gap have been proposed but have not yet been adopted.

Moreover, it should be noted that the Law on Asylum and Refuges (LAR) does not distinguish between “unaccompanied” and “separated” children, resulting in all children arriving without a parent or legal guardian being treated as unaccompanied. Amendments to the LAR aimed at introducing a definition of “separated children have been proposed but are yet to be adopted.

The lack of targeted integration support had also had a particularly negative impact on UASC who have been granted international protection. While over the last two years progress has been made towards placing children granted protection in alternative care, a significant number of children remain at the RRCs after being granted protection, including outside the safe zones. Administrative and practical difficulties associated with obtaining residence address needed for civil registration and issuance of identity documents impedes effective access to rights and services, while delays in obtaining visas and travel documents for family members once family reunification request have been approved often contribute to the sense of anxiety.

Concerning children who do not apply for international protection, while UNHCR has welcomed legislative amendments aimed at granting continuous residence permit to unaccompanied children, who do not apply for international protection or whose claims are refused, until they reach 18, UNHCR is concerned, that the absence of alternative care arrangements within the national child protection system limits the effectiveness of this provision to ensure all unaccompanied children have access to adequate reception and care. Furthermore, there is limited awareness among social workers and service providers of this legislative provision, resulting in some cases of eligible children not benefiting from it.

Overall Purpose and Scope of Assignment:

Concise and detailed description of activities, including measurable outputs and delivery dates, impact indicators (what qualitative and quantitative results would be achieved upon completion of individual contract), performance indicators (timelines, value of the service rendered in relation to the cost, timeliness) and work plan:

Weeks 1-4: Desk review and analysis of the national law and regulative framework with regards to the protection and care of UASC under UNHCR mandate, taking into account the EU acquis and European human rights law;

Weeks 4-8: Drafting of legislative amendments and regulations to ensure case management of UASC in accordance of individual BIP to address gaps and ensure harmonisation of the legal framework concerning UASC, including aligning the administrative procedures applicable to asylum seeking children and recipients of temporary protection could help to address the divergent practices concerning care arrangements for separated children will help to facilitate monitoring and support.

Weeks 8 -12: Drafting of guidance / SoPs for national and local authority CP case workers, social workers and community workers to ensure emergency response to the protection needs of UASC;

Continuous: Supporting UNHCR partners as planned within an agreed workplan with SoPs to ensure response, risk mitigation and prevention of child protection violations (of children under UNHCR mandate) in line with the national legal framework and Bulgaria’s relevant international/European obligations and best practices.

Monitoring and Progress Controls (report requirements, periodicity, format, deadlines):

a. The final product (e.g. survey completed, data collected, workshop conducted, research documents produced specify):

Comprehensive report on the legal gaps concerning asylum seeking, refugee and stateless children under Bulgaria’s child protection system, and draw policy briefs, in particular with regards to legal guardianship and representation, best interest procedures, and case management.
Draft comments and or policy documents on the relevant provisions of legislation (Law on Asylum and Refugees, Child Protection Law, Law of Foreigners, Family Code).
Design and conduct total 20 hours of training or briefing sessions for Government stakeholders, legal practitioners, and social workers.

Qualification and experience required (degree required, years of work experience, field of expertise, language required):

Academic background relevant to child protection, law, international law (BA, BS, LLM, PhD)
8 years of experience in areas relevant to child protection, refugee law
Fluency in English and Bulgarian essential
Training in areas relevant to child protection and refugee law Professionalism and Integrity