KIND is proud to be part of the collaborative EU project, My Coming of Age Story (CO.A.ST) that aims to empower guardians as they support unaccompanied children transitioning to adulthood. The project is led by the Italian Council for Refugees (CIR) and implemented with partner organizations in six EU countries.
Beyond the research and findings of the project, lie many stories that highlight the determination of young unaccompanied and separated children, the critical support that guardians provide for these children as they are coming of age and how essential it is to ensure that the support continues after they have transitioned to adulthood. This is reflected in the below story shared by CIR.
Ahmed* is a 19-year-old Egyptian who arrived in Italy at the age of 16. Today, he works part-time with a permanent contract in a café. He lives in Rome, hosted by the Reception and Integration System (SAI) center, where he will remain until he turns 21—a result achieved thanks to the determination of his volunteer guardian.
Ahmed is the eldest of three children and the only boy; his mother recently passed away, and his father has irregular employment. To support his family and repay the debt incurred for his journey to Europe, Ahmed regularly sends them the money he earns. Due to a difficult life from an early age, Ahmed is illiterate and never attended school, although he has always shown a lively and energetic nature.
His journey to Italy ended in Rome in September 2023, after crossing the sea, stopping in Lampedusa and briefly in Perugia, from where he fled to reach the capital. In Rome, he was first placed in an Initial Reception Center and later transferred to a group home in Ciampino, a town located just southeast of the capital. The juvenile court assigned him a volunteer guardian, who would soon become a crucial figure, especially during the delicate transition to adulthood.
During his time in care, Ahmed’s school enrollment produced limited results, eventually leading to a diagnosis of ADHD. Nonetheless, he successfully completed a baking course.
As his 18th birthday approached, the guardian strongly pushed for administrative continuation (Article 13 of the of the EU Asylum Procedure Regulation). With full support from the Department, the guardian succeeded in submitting the request.
Upon turning 18, Ahmed was discharged and provisionally hosted in a Reception Center for Asylum Seekers (CARA – Centro di Accoglienza per Richiedenti Asilo) in Rome. The juvenile court’s favorable decision opened the doors of the SAI center in the Laurentina neighborhood, where he also began regular sessions with the center’s psychologist.
In June, a family friend offered Ahmed a job in a fruit shop in Turin. Despite strong pressure from his family of origin, the guardian—while warning him about the risk of exploitation—encouraged him to go, convinced that everyone must make their own experiences. Ahmed made the trip and completed a trial day in Turin, living in a small apartment with ten fellow countrymen. That experience was enough: the initial excitement faded, and he decided to return. Back in Rome, the first person he called was his former guardian, who picked him up at Tiburtina station and brought him, as Ahmed explicitly requested, a tuna and tomato sandwich, reaffirming himself as a familiar figure of comfort and important support.
In August, a sign of their deep bond: Ahmed spent his summer holidays in Calabria with the guardian and his family.
Ahmed just turned 19 and celebrated his birthday with friends. His former guardian, though no longer formally assigned to him, was the guest of honor—confirming himself as a stable and essential point of reference in the young man’s life.
*The child’s name has been changed to protect their identity.
My Coming of Age Story (CO.A.ST) is a project co-funded by the European Union and carried out by a consortium of organizations led by CIR – Consiglio Italiano per i Rifugiati (Italy), in partnership with KIND (Belgium and Slovakia), Alliance des Avocats pour les Droits de l’Homme (France), ELIL – European Lawyers in Lesvos (Greece and Poland), and PIC (Legal center for the protection of human rights and the environment, Slovenia).
