The making of unaccompanied children

Author(s):  
Birgul Yilmaz

Abstract This paper deals with the management of unaccompanied child migration. A legal framework laid out in international law aims to give internationally recognised human rights to children. These legal texts (re)invent the label of “child”, and more specifically, of “unaccompanied child”. This is a legally prescribed lexical label that discursively produces the figure of “child” as a legal, psychological and biometric surveillance object, resulting in ambivalent management of the children. In this paper, I show how this figure of the unaccompanied child is (re)invented in legal texts and then circulates in the humanitarian world via a process of entextualisation on supra/national and local levels in Greece. Drawing on eight months of ethnography on Lesvos Island, I demonstrate the tensions, disruptions, refusals and unsettling moments of struggle that arise when this definition and its related policies are implemented on the ground.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Olaitan Oluwaseyi Olusegun

Abstract Armed conflicts are characterised by violence and human rights violations with various implications on the citizens, economy and development of nations. The impact is however more pronounced with life-long consequences on children, the most vulnerable members of the society. This article examines the impact of non-international armed conflicts on children in Nigeria and identifies the laws for the protection of children against armed conflicts, both in international law and Nigeria’s domestic law. It also addresses the challenges involved in the protection of children in armed conflict situations in Nigeria. The study found that legal efforts to protect children have not been given sufficient attention in Nigeria. This is mostly due to various challenges including the fragmentation of legal framework and the refusal to domesticate relevant treaties. It is thus recommended that these challenges be addressed through the implementation of effective legal frameworks.


2009 ◽  
pp. 229-258
Author(s):  
Fabrizio Marrella

- In recent years and before the global financial crisis, international law has struggled to regulate the activity of transnational corporations since the latter have greatly expanded their capacity for action on a global scale. Despite numerous efforts by the International Community to agree on a hard law international legal framework, the soft law process has been the primary arena for the regulation of transnational corporations and human rights. In addition, host state control, home state control and international responsibility of directors and companies itself have so far remained the fundamental avenues through which issues of global corporate responsibility have been assessed. ‘Contractualisation' of human rights has also been viewed as a further avenue to control the human rights impact of corporate activity. The UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises has generated an impressive stock of report capitalizing on issues well known in specialised international economic law literature. He is raising global awareness and institutionalizing new paradigms of understanding the complex relationship between business and human rights: a matter of vital importance for this century. The work of the UN Special Representative constitutes therefore a step forward towards an holistic approach of contemporary international law.


Laws ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Alejandro Fuentes ◽  
Marina Vannelli

This paper proposes a critical analysis of the innovative jurisprudential approaches taken by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in integrating the content and scope of protection of the human rights of children, in the context of migration processes. How might one provide an effective protection to unaccompanied children that enter irregularly into the territory of a given country, when the safeguards guaranteed at the national level are elusive or inefficient? By focusing on the pioneering jurisprudence developed by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in recent years, this paper intends to unveil how a systemic integration of children’s rights, under the light of the current international law developments, could provide an effective protection for the rights of children in the context of migration processes. In fact, as a result of an evolutive, dynamic and effective interpretation, the regional tribunal has expanded the scope of protection of the American Convention on Human Rights, by taking into consideration and making known, references to instruments and provisions enshrined within the corpus juris of international human rights law, such as the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, and—consequently—improving the level of protection of millions of children in the Americas.


2012 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Júlia Mink

Abstract The principal objective of the article is to examine the EU legal framework and international law parameters of legal harmonisation processes in a specific field of human rights protection: asylum legislation. In particular, it is to provide an in-depth analysis of the compatibility of EU asylum legislation with existing international norms in relation to the principle of non-refoulement and the prohibition of torture and other forms of ill-treatment. It also aims at exploring the correspondence and controversies of relevant legal principles and norms under international law. Similarly, it attempts to provide an analysis of the incomplete and inefficient implementation of these international norms and principles by EU asylum law as well.


2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (12) ◽  
pp. 2789-2794
Author(s):  
Oleksandr V. Petryshyn ◽  
Marianna I. Liubchenko ◽  
Oleksii O. Liubchenko

The aim: Is to analyze the development of the modern legal framework for child's health care, to clarify the benefits of a human rights-based approach, which is now is mainstreaming for understanding the right of children to health and means of its protection. Materials and methods: To achieve this goal, as well as taking into account the specifics of the topic, the following research methods became relevant: the application of a dialectical approach and historical method made it possible to understand the patterns of formation and development of ideas of children's rights and health within the international community and national states; formal-legal method was used when studying legal texts (international law acts, both of universal and regional level, interpretation and clarification of human rights treaty bodies, expert reports and research, case law), and comparative-legal was used to compare different approaches on health protection in various international human rights mechanisms (US Supreme Court, Council of Europe). Conclusions: Today, perceptions of children's rights at the doctrinal and jurisprudential levels are quite developed due to a broad understanding and openness to progressive interpretation. In particular, the inclusion into the legal context such determinants as the inviolability of the dignity and private life of the child, proper understanding of the stages of adulthood, and an assessment of the child's developmental environment has made modern international law and national legal systems to become more viable in sense of protection of child's well-being in today's world.


Afrika Focus ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-57
Author(s):  
Darsheenee Raumnauth ◽  
Roopanand Mahadew

This article reviews the obligations under international law of the United Kingdom and Mauritius towards the Chagossians. With the detachment of Chagos from Mauritius as an essential condition for the independence of Mauritius from the British colonial master, the Chagossians have, over the past four decades, endured enormous human rights violations . This article assesses the responsibility of the two states vis-à-vis the Chagossians. A comprehensive factual account is first presented to clarify understanding of the history of Chagos. The legal framework is then analysed to assess the responsibility of each state, before a number of recommendations are made.


Afrika Focus ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Darsheenee Raumnauth ◽  
Roopanand Mahadew

This article reviews the obligations under international law of the United Kingdom and Mauritius towards the Chagossians. With the detachment of Chagos from Mauritius as an essential condition for the independence of Mauritius from the British colonial master, the Chagossians have, over the past four decades, endured enormous human rights violations. This article assesses the responsibility of the two states vis-à-vis the Chagossians. A comprehensive factual account is rst presented to clarify understanding of the history of Chagos. The legal framework is then analysed to assess the responsibility of each state, before a number of recommendations are made. Key words: Chagos, Mauritius, United Kingdom, British Indian Ocean territories 


2021 ◽  
pp. 37-62
Author(s):  
Barbara A. Frey

Enforced disappearance is one of the most serious crimes, prohibited across several regimes of international law, including human rights, humanitarian law and criminal law, yet Latin American governments and officials frequently avoid legal accountability for these violations. The dynamics of disappearances in post-transitional democracies call for a reconceptualisation of the international human rights framework, by reconsidering the meaning of state acquiescence. This chapter argues that a relevant and effective framework must embrace a contextual analysis and foreground the positive obligations of states to search and investigate these crimes, using generally accepted principles found in due diligence jurisprudence to measure the legal adequacy of the state’s responses to reported disappearances. Stretching the legal framework is necessary to disrupt the benefits of impunity, which violate the rights of victims, allow disappearances to thrive, and harm societies by hiding the truth.


1998 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-245
Author(s):  
Marten Zwanenburg

Allegations of human rights and humanitarian law violations by UN forces have highlighted the need for more clarity in this area. This requires a focus on human rights and humanitarian norms applicable to UN forces, and the question of responsibility for violations of those norms. To a large extent, these questions concern the relations between the UN, national contingents, and troop contributing states. What are their respective rights and obligations? In this paper it is submitted that the answer given to this question under international law differs from the one given in the specific legal framework and practice of UN forces.


SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 215824402110326
Author(s):  
Setyo Widagdo ◽  
Kadek Wiwik Indrayanti ◽  
Anak Agung Ayu Nanda Saraswati

Since the territorial defeat of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), debates and questions on what states should do (individually and or collectively) with foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) from their countries have become more relevant yet controversial. This article critically investigates whether states of origin have an obligation to repatriate ISIS FTFs under international law as well as what options are available for such countries in dealing with returning ISIS fighters based on a human rights approach. This article also highlights that the current international legal framework is generally moving toward the repatriation of FTFs for the purpose of prosecution and rehabilitation. While states have taken diverse and controversial approaches in dealing with fighters who wish to return, the option to repatriate and fairly prosecute them in their countries of origin is seen as the most comprehensive and preferred approach, not only for the countries of origin but also for the international community as a whole in the long term.


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