ANKARA

EU states cannot deport unaccompanied minors aged under 15 unless there are “adequate reception facilities” in their home countries, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) said in a ruling on Thursday.

The court said a member state that intends to issue a “return decision” against unaccompanied children “must necessarily take into account the best interests of the child at all stages of the procedure.”

The ruling of the ECJ, the EU’s top court in matters related to the bloc’s laws, came on an appeal by a child migrant from Guinea against his deportation from the Netherlands.

The court urged countries to conduct a “general and in-depth assessment” of the situation of children before taking a decision.

It said an EU state cannot deport a minor “without first being satisfied that there are adequate reception facilities in the State of return,” stressing that a child cannot be “removed in the absence of such facilities.”

“Such a minor would thus be placed in a situation of great uncertainty as to his or her legal status and his or her future, in particular as regards his or her schooling, his or her link with a foster family or the possibility of remaining in the Member State concerned,” the ECJ said.

“This would be contrary to the requirement to protect the best interests of the child at all stages of the procedure. It follows that, if such reception facilities are not available in the State of return, the minor concerned cannot be the subject of a return decision.”