Co-creative video explains the asylum appeal procedure through the eyes of young people

“I was quite stressed about coming here, because I didn’t know what was going to happen.”

Children and young people who receive a negative decision on their asylum application in Belgium can lodge an appeal before the Council for Alien Law Litigation (CALL). For many young people, speaking with a judge and waiting for a new decision is difficult and stressful. At the same time, there is hardly any information about this appeal procedure that is truly adapted to their age and needs.

“That’s why we’re making this video for you, so you know better what to expect.”

Child-friendly information that clearly explains the legal context in which children and young people appear before the CALL helps them gain more grip on a situation that often feels overwhelming. In this video, young people themselves explain what it is like to go through such a procedure as a minor.

Tariq, Sadia and Danish guide you through the building: they show where you need to go, what the hearing rooms look like, who is present, what happens after the hearing, and who can support you.

“Your guardian is there to support you. A supporter of your choice is there to help you feel safer. Your lawyer is there to defend you.”

On the occasion of Children’s Rights Day, 20 November, we want to highlight that children and young people on the move have the right to a child-sensitive asylum procedure.

Accessible, accurate and recognisable information is an essential part of this, as is the presence of a supportive network that can help them understand and process that information.

Are you a guardian, lawyer, youth worker in a reception centre, teacher, foster parent, friend or neighbour of children and young people involved in this procedure?

Then this video is for you as well. You can watch it together with children and young people in Dutch, French, Arabic, Dari, English, Pashto and Spanish.

“We made this video to make things a bit easier. You’re not alone.”

The video was conceived, written and produced in co-creation with young people who were themselves heard by the asylum judge. They were involved in every stage of the production: as idea-makers, brainstormers, writers, actors, extras, reviewers and during the recording of the voice-overs. Together with other young people – with and without experience of the asylum procedure – and with Sara Lembrechts, Ellen van Vooren, filmmaker Camille Ghekiere, production company Het Bataljon, the CALL and Kopergietery, they portrayed the appeal procedure from the perspective of young people themselves.

This production was funded by Ghent University and stems from the ongoing doctoral research of Sara Lembrechts, which examines the procedural rights of children and young people in asylum appeal procedures before the CALL.