Children have more to lose than most in Brexit–and they have plenty to say
As valuable time is spent settling the backstop, we leave all other issues that are so important to young people at risk of being unresolved
CHILDREN did not get an opportunity to vote on the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union. However, not having the right to vote does not mean young people should not have a voice in this debate. Therefore, last November, 120 young people took part in a conference called ‘It’s Our Brexit Too: Children’s Rights, Children’s Voices’.
The conference was the first time children from both Northern Ireland and the Republic had an opportunity to discuss Brexit, and focused on how to protect children’s rights. Central to this focus was a desire to avoid a hard Border, reflecting the integration of children’s lives along the Border. Many cross it every day to attend school, or visit family and friends.
However, though preventing a hard Border is critical, it was far from the only issue discussed. Young people hoped the UK could remain in programmes like Erasmus+, an exchange scheme for university students. They also supported continued collaboration through Europol to protect children against trafficking, and favoured the UK maintaining the European Health Insurance Card, which lets people on holidays in Europe easily access health care, even though this requires the UK remaining in the European Economic Area.
The conference showed the diverse views of children across the island. Young delegates brought their conference’s report to the European Parliament in March and presented it to the All-Island Civic Dialogue on Brexit in April, meeting Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator.
At the dialogue, Mr Barnier assured the young people present that there would be no hard Border on the island of Ireland. This is guaranteed by the so-called ‘backstop’ agreement between the UK and the EU. The backstop states that in the absence of any other arrangement, Northern Ireland will retain full alignment with the rules of the EU single market. This avoids a hard Border, allowing free movement of people and goods.
It was agreed in principle last December, and deals with the principal recommendation from our conference: that children believe returning to a hard Border would be ruinous both to the peace process and their daily lives.
However, since their apparent agreement in December, the British government has dithered on converting the idea of the backstop into an enforceable legal text. Negotiations about this issue were due to be concluded by the end of June, but divisions within the British government have forced this deadline to be extended to October, when the rest of the Brexit deal is due to be decided.
This delay results in two risks. First, in the event that the backstop cannot be agreed, we face a situation where Border checks are again enforced. Mercifully, this scenario is unlikely, as the British parliament – if not its government – seems unwilling to allow this.
However, the second risk could also be destructive. As valuable time is spent settling the backstop, we leave all the other issues that are so important to young people at risk of being unresolved.
Although the backstop will protect the peace process, it will do nothing to help students learn through the Erasmus+ programme; nothing to protect children saved by European co-operation on child trafficking; and nothing to provide health care to young people on holidays abroad. We need a wider withdrawal agreement to tackle these issues, insofar as is possible within the context of Brexit.
Deals made now will ricochet through the lives of young generations. Therefore, we urge all parties to settle the backstop promptly, and proceed to secure a Brexit which respects the wishes of this island’s youth.
■ Oscar Despard was a member of the Ombudsman for Children’s Office and Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People’s steering group on the ‘It’s Our Brexit Too: Children’s Rights, Children’s Voices’ project.