Children's Rights and Refugee Law

Samantha Arnold is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow within the Irish National Contact Point of the European Migration Network based in the Economic and Social Research Institute and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the School of Law at Trinity College Dublin. Samantha completed her PhD in the School of Law, Trinity College Dublin. Her research interests include refugee and immigration law and policy and children’s rights. She has published on these and related areas.

• Chapter 1 IntroductionIntroductionA dichotomy: children’s rights and refugee law A children’s rights approach Building upon the ‘human rights approach’Invisibility in refugee lawLocating children’s rights in refugee law: Article 6 and the ‘Three Ps Approach’Methodology of analysisChapter 2 Children, childhood and refugee lawAbstractIntroductionIndicators of childhood and being a child and refugee lawA paradigm shift: the emergence of childhoodThe modern children’s rights movementThe beginning of the Children’s Rights MovementGlobal childhoodConflicts within the paradigm shift: an externalisation of rights, romanticism and the role of the familyA conceptualisation of childhoodLimitation to the modern conceptualisation of children's rightsConclusion Chapter 3 International Children’s Rights LawAbstractIntroduction Origins of children’s rights in international lawConvention on the Rights of the Child 1989 and life, survival and developmentProvisional rights HealthStandard of living EducationNon-discrimination Protection rightsLabour exploitationOther forms of economic exploitationInvolvement in other illicit trades Military conscriptionChild marriageOther non-economic forms of harmParticipation rightsAgency in the Convention on the Right of the ChildDetermining agency Right to be heardThe role of the family in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and provisional, protection and participation rightsChildren’s rights and refugee law – an indirect link?Conclusions Chapter 4 Children in the development of refugee lawAbstract IntroductionChildren and the beginnings of international human rights law (pre-1951)Beginnings of refugee lawThe historical trajectory of children in the refugee paradigmModern refugee law under the United NationsConclusionChapter 5 A children’s rights approach to refugee law?AbstractIntroductionPart IContext setting Children within the Refugee Convention and the need for a cross-treaty interpretive approach: some assumptions Bridging the gap: treaty interpretationThe challenge of implementing international lawInternational law as national guidanceThe object and purpose of the Refugee Convention The object and purpose of the Convention on the Rights of the ChildConclusion on objects and purposesA children’s rights approach – justification through UN Guidance United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Committee on the Rights of the ChildChallenges in the interpretation of the Refugee Convention in respect of children’s rightsPart IIA brief introduction to persecutionPersecution and children Actors of persecution and protection and the role of the familyChildren who are not eligible for protection: exclusionConvention groundsConclusionChapter 6 Constructing a children’s rights approach: the application of children’s rights in refugee lawAbstractIntroductionChallenges to consistency in the interpretation of child refugee claimsPart IProvisional rights and refugee protectionFamily Education Conclusion on provisional rights Part IIProtection rights and refugee protectionExploitationLabour and traffickingForced military recruitment and protection of children during conflictInvolvement in illicit activities – gangs Other forms of harm: Indiscriminate violence and tortureFamily as persecutor and protector – unattached children Conclusion on protection rightsPart III Participation rights and refugee protectionImputed beliefs Religion Political OpinionConclusions: participation rightsConclusions A Children’s Rights ApproachChapter 7 ConclusionsAbstractIntroductionDichotomiesA children’s rights frameworkInvisibility in refugee lawA bourgeoning children’s rights approach to the interpretation of the Refugee ConventionLimited case lawA children’s rights barometer for persecution: present day case lawA particular convention groundThe findingsThe questionsMoving forwardConclusion

"In this meticulously researched and lucidly presented book, Samantha Arnold investigates the implications of the enduring legal disjunction between children's rights and refugee protection norms. At a time when the number of distress child migrants in need of international protection is at an all time high, understanding how children fit into refugee law is a key legal question and an urgent practical necessity. Both legal scholars and child rights advocates stand to gain considerably from this timely study." Jacqueline BhabhaProfessor of the Practice of Health and Human RightsHarvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health