Where to? A critical reading of European soft law on young refugees’ transitions in the Fortress Europe

This article critically examines the Council of Europe’s Recommendation on Supporting Young Refugees in Transition to Adulthood of 2019 against the background of the transition perspective – without disregarding the generation and cultural approaches –, elaborated within the multidisciplinary field of the Youth Studies. Inter alia, age, precariousness of the legal status, gender, and race belong to the identity grounds intertwining in ways that hinder the rights, well-being, and autonomous life of young refugees in transition to adulthood in national contexts characterized by strict binding legislations and the spread of anti-refugee resentment. While acknowledging the relevance of the Recommendation, which represents the only European legal text targeting this youth group, this contribution suggests taking an integrated approach to young refugees’ transition in order to hopefully strengthen its beneficial effects for them.