Unaccompanied Minors: a Challenge for the EU migration’s governance. The Case of Italy

Over the past two decades, geopolitical unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, coupled with the economic crisis and climate disasters, have caused a surge in migrant arrivals on Mediterranean shores. Children on the move are not a new phenomenon, however, after the so-called migration crisis in 2015-2016, in which unexpectedly high numbers of unaccompanied minors (UAM) were recorded, the phenomenon has become structural. Understanding how the European Union (EU) and Italy in particular have reacted to this challenge garanteeing UAMs protection is an important and pressing question. The analysis of the Italian experience could be considered an emblematic case in the general failure of attribution of responsibility among EU member states. In particular, state and non-state actors in border cities have not only provided good practices to address the phenomenon, but have also shaped Italian policies in a process of progressive institutionalisation from below.