Senior UN official spotlights special protection needs of child refugees

More than 1.6 million children who – either as refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) or migrants – have become separated from their parents or guardians, and they need asylum and migration policies that take into account their special needs, a senior official with the United Nations refugee agency stressed today.

“No matter their status, children must be treated as children first and their best interests professionally identified and respected,” Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Erika Feller said yesterday in her keynote address to a conference on the protection of unaccompanied and separated children, taking place in the United States.

The three-day gathering, hosted by George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, is aimed at improving the timeliness and effectiveness of protection for unaccompanied child refugees, many of whom have undertaken extremely difficult and dangerous journeys to escape persecution, human rights violations and violence.

Ms. Feller noted that current asylum and migration procedures are designed primarily for the needs of adults. Those that do exist to address separated or unaccompanied children vary greatly from country to country. One European country, for example, recently enforced fast-track airport procedures aimed at blocking children’s arrival.

Also, a common problem in many countries, including the US, is the lack of government-appointed counsel or guardians for these children.

“The absence of representation to enable a child to navigate the legal hurdles of entry and proper assessment of protection needs is fundamentally detrimental to children’s best interests,” she said.

In this regard, Ms. Feller lauded the initiative by technology giant and UNHCR corporate partner Microsoft to boost legal representation for unaccompanied children which was launched in the US last week.