A 'guidebook on return' for children, published by the European border and coast guard agency, Frontex, is facing criticism for allegedly idealising deportation.
The guidebook, released in 2024, re-emerged in public discourse after the European Parliament recently finalised a regulation on the return of undocumented third-country nationals.
Designed for children aged 6 to 11, the guide has been criticised for its playful tone and format. Cécile Vanderstappen, a researcher on migration justice, described the booklet as “cruel” and “disconnected from reality.”
The brochure, presented as a comic book, portrays deportation as an adventure.
Phrases such as those telling the children that they can experience new, exciting things now that they are in their family's country or that they can make new friends and discover new sweets, have sparked outrage.
Jean-Yves Hayez, a child psychiatrist from the Catholic University of Louvain, condemned the initiative as unethical.
“The booklet explains nothing. Children are told they must leave but are given no explanation as to why. This will only upset them further; not only are they being expelled, but they’re being treated as if they were stupid,” he said.
Frontex defended the guide, saying it aims to inform and prepare children for repatriation.
The agency explained that its staff had nothing to offer families when children needed to understand they were being returned home.
Children often discovered what was happening on the day itself, through strangers, in the midst of an already difficult process, it noted, adding that the guidebook addresses this gap.
