All children and youth under 18 arriving alone in Italy, without their families or an adult legally responsible for them, have the right to stay in the country and cannot be sent back to their own or another country.
Are you under 18 years old and in Italy alone, without your family?
UNHCR Italy has developed a specific webpage for you, with information materials in several languages on reception and asylum for children and youth under 18 travelling alone.
Can you attend school?
Yes. All foreign children in Italy, irrespective of their status, have the right to education regardless of the documents that they have with them. Moreover, all children and adolescents between 6 and 16 years old must go to school in Italy. For more details, see the section on Education.
Can you join your family in another European country?
Yes, you can ask to join your family members living in Europe through a procedure called the “Dublin Regulation”. UNHCR and CIDAS have developed specific information materials on this, available in 9 languages (Pashto, Tigrinya, Italian, Urdu, Somali, Farsi, English, French, Arabic).
Are you an adult living in Italy that would like to serve as legal guardian for a child who arrived alone?
The National Ombudsperson for children and adolescents has developed a specific information webpage with all the information you need to see whether you qualify and what your responsibilities would be as a guardian.
Are you a professional, working in the child protection system in Italy?
We have developed operational tools to be used in the reception system for unaccompanied children.
