Annex 2 – Selected relevant legislative and
policy documents on the protection of migrant
and refugee children
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
All EU Member States have ratified the
UNCRC 1 , setting out the rights of every child.
The UNCRC applies to every child, irrespective
of their status, including their migration status.
In case of family separation, States should
seek to trace parents or relatives to allow
migrant children to be reunited with their
family, and ensure that every migrant child
has equal rights with other children in terms
of care. Article 20 of the UNCRC specifically
deals with children deprived of their family
environment and specifies that these children
are entitled to special protection and assistance
provided by the State. The UN Guidelines for
the Alternative Care of Children 2 , which were
formally endorsed in 2009 by the UN General
Assembly, aim to enhance the implementation
of the UNCRC specifically for children who have
lost parental care or who are at risk of losing it.
The UN Guidelines outline the need for relevant
policy and practice based on two key principles,
namely necessity and suitability. The necessity
principle comprises that removing any child
from his/her family should be a measure of last
resort and that situations and conditions that
can lead to placement in alternative care should
be prevented. The suitability principle outlines
that any alternative care option must be suitable
to the specific care needs and best interest of
each child.
See also:
Joint General Comments of the Committee
on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Members of Their Families and
of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on
the Human Rights of Children in the Context of
Migration, November 2017.
UN Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees
The definition of a refugee as laid out in the 1951
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees 3
applies to all individuals regardless of their
age. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Guidelines on international protection and
child asylum claims 4 recommend to adopt
a child-sensitive application of the refugee
definition, consistently with the UNCRC.
The UNHCR has also issued its position
regarding the detention of refugee and migrant
children in the migration contex 5 , in which
it states that detention is never in a child’s
best interests and that children should not be
detained for migration purposes. Furthermore,
the position specifies that “appropriate care ar-
rangements and community-based programmes
need to be in place to ensure adequate reception
of children and their families”.
1 _ Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), UN General Assembly, A/RES/44/25, 20 November 1989,
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CRC.aspx.
2 _ Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children, UN General Assembly, A/RES/64/142, 24 February 2010,
https://www.unicef.org/protection/alternative_care_Guidelines-English.pdf.
3 _ Convention and Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951, http://www.unhcr.org/3b66c2aa10.
4 _ “Guidelines on International Protection: Child Asylum Claims under Articles 1(A)2 and 1(F) of the 1951 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol
relating to the Status of Refugees”, UNHCR, 22 December 2009, http://www.unhcr.org/publications/legal/50ae46309/guidelines-
international-protection-8-child-asylum-claims-under-articles.html.
5 _ “UNHCR’s position regarding the detention of refugee and migrant children in the migration context”, UNHCR Division of International
Protection, January 2017, http://www.unhcr.org/protection/detention/58a458eb4/unhcrs-position-regarding-detention-refugee-migrant-
children-migration.html.
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