Article 22: The Right to Protection for Refugee and Asylum-Seeking Children

Article 22 guarantees the substantive application of all Convention rights to the particular situation of asylum seeking and refugee children, and also guarantees them protection and assistance in advancing their immigration and residency status claims and in overcoming the hurdles posed by international migration channels, including guarantees of due process. The rights of refugee and asylum-seeking children can be analyzed in relation to four essential attributes. First of all, Article 22 insists upon appropriate protection and humanitarian assistance. Refugee children are not granted a special status under the Convention, but they are not given any lesser status. They are to be treated as children first and foremost and not as migrants per se, in the sense that national immigration policy cannot trump child rights. The basic rights to education, health, and child welfare of these children needs to be protected to the same extent, and as much as possible, as children who are nationals of the host country. The second attribute preserves the rights of refugee children not only under the Convention but under all other international human right treaties and humanitarian instruments binding on the relevant States Party. These may include, for many governments, the 1951 Refugee Convention, the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, the Geneva Conventions and the Hague Convention for the Protection of Minors, 1961, among others. A third attribute of Article 22 insists upon the duty to protect and assist refugee children. This entails a clear duty to provide children with appropriate due process rights throughout their asylum and refugee claims procedures, including the child’s right to be heard and participate in all the processes determining the child’s residence or immigration status, border admission, deportation, repatriation, detention, alternative measures, or placement, including best interest determination processes. The fourth and final attribute of Article 22 asserts that two basic principles should guide each activity with the refugee child: the best interests of the child and the principle of family unity.

Challenges to Afghan Refugee Children’s Education in Pakistan: A Human Security Perspective

Human security is an essential component of the contemporary intra-state conflicts; promulgating renewed understanding of the perpetuating nature of the Afghan problem. Afghanistan, from the Soviet invasion to the US’ long war, faces continued Human Security challenges, especially lack of education in around 80 percent of school-aged children of Afghan refugees. Pakistan, which itself has the second largest number of school-aged children out of school, faces illiteracy in children of Afghan refugees as the surmountable challenge that links down to the seven broader components of human security identified by Mahbub-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s former finance minister and economist, in the 1994 Human Development Report. The growing illiteracy in second and third-generation Afghan refugees is the product of poverty, socio-economic disparities, and socio-cultural restrictions, especially in regards to the relative discouragement of female education. In order to offset the gravity of challenges to the educational aspect of human security, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is continuously cooperating with the Pakistani government in enhancing educational infrastructure in terms of community and home-based schooling, vocational and technical training, and capacity building of Pakistan’s schooling system to accommodate Afghan refugee children. Therefore, the paper takes qualitative checks of the primary sources from the government of Pakistan and UNHCR and secondary sources to find the answers to three following questions in different four parts of the paper. The result of this study is that the main challenge for Afghan refugee child education in Pakistan is the poor quality of education. Therefore, UNHCR should work with the Pakistani government to develop investment programs and put in place solid surveillance and oversight of schools to improve their quality to an acceptable standard.

The right to education of the refugee girl affected by armed conflict in Kenya: insights from the jurisprudence of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child

The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child provides for the protection of children in all environments. Areas that have experienced armed conflict have made the child susceptible to human rights violations including violence through sexual offences and violation of civil and political as well as socio-economic rights. An evaluation of all human rights violations cannot be done comprehensively. This article takes a thematic turn and evaluates the aspects of the right to education of the refugee girl child. It sets the tone by reflecting on the normative framework of the right to education of the refugee child at the international, regional and national levels. This is followed by a discussion of the violation of this right in situations of conflict and host States like Kenya. Drawing on the jurisprudence of the African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, insights on the improvement of the enjoyment of this right are engaged. A conclusion and recommendations follow.

An Analysis of Admissions to a Refugee Child Mental Health Unit in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background To examine the admissions to a refugee child outpatient mental health unit in the COVID-19 pandemic and to compare them with the pre-pandemic period. Methods This retrospective observational study, planned through the hospital information system and patient files, included the 1-year number of outpatient unit admissions, sociodemographic, and clinical data. Results Before the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2019–February 2020), a total of 2322 patients (local and refugee) applied to the same unit, and 236 (10.1%) of these patients were refugees. Since the commencement of the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey (March 2020–February 2021), 1209 patients applied, and 10.4% ( n = 126) of them were refugees. While 19.66 ± 6.31 refugees applied per month in the pre-pandemic period, this number decreased to 10.50 ± 5.31 during the pandemic period ( p = 0.01). During the pandemic period, there was a significant decrease in the number of female refugee patient admissions. In addition, while admissions for external disorders increased significantly during the pandemic period ( x 2 = 13.99, p = 0.001), admissions for internal disorders decreased significantly ( x 2 = 4.54, p = 0.03). Conclusions The decrease in the mental health unit demands with the pandemic may lead to negative consequences in the long term. To determine mental health and psychological needs of patients during the outbreak will greatly contribute to the pandemic management process.

A diagnostic challenge in an unresponsive refugee child improving with neurosurgery—a case report

ABSTRACT An unresponsive paediatric patient may present a diagnostic challenge for health professionals, as rapid identification of the cause is needed to provide proper interventions. The following report details a challenging diagnosis of unresponsiveness in a refugee child. In the migratory context, observed unresponsiveness states are frequently attributed to psychologic factors, and overlapping psychiatric classifications (resignation syndrome, functional coma and catatonia) are common. Our patient fell into an unresponsive state for 6 months after witnessing a traumatic event. Diagnostic workup for multiple medical comorbidities led to surgical intervention for tethered cord syndrome. Shortly after that, the patient’s responsiveness improved, putting to question her condition’s underlying cause. This case highlights the need for a biopsychosocial approach in such cases, reflected in thorough clinical examination and diagnostic investigations. A multidisciplinary perspective and expertise proved crucial and may help in the rehabilitation of children in similar situations.

THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN REFUGEE IN TRANSIT COUNTRY UNDER THE CRC, A CASE OF INDONESIA: AN INTENDED NEGLIGENCE?

Civil wars in Middle Eastern countries and several countries in Africa have resulted in an increased influx of refugees seeking refuge in Indonesia every year. Although Indonesia is not their final destination, they prefer to wait in a transit country rather than experience terror and persecution in their home country., As a non-signatory country to the 1951 Geneva Convention, for humanitarian reasons, Indonesia allows those people who already in the territory of Indonesia to temporary stay until they status are clear. 28% of the refugees registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Indonesia are under 18 years of age. Being a refugee child in a transit country keeps them away from the threat of war crimes in their country, nonetheless it turns out that there are basic rights that cannot be fully fulfilled. The 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) regulates state obligation to fulfil the rights of the child in any situation without discrimination. Indonesia as a transit country and state party to the CRC facing dilemma in assisting the child refugees. This article will analyse whether Indonesia has responsibility for child refugee in its jurisdiction as regulated in the CRC. By research, Indonesia can be considered fail to conduct its obligation under CRC. Hence Indonesia can be held responsible for its negligence in complying its obligation under the CRC. Nonetheless, there are measures that can be taken by the Indonesian Government through cooperation with international communities as well as corporations to tackle the challenges in implementing the CRC particularly in regards to refugee children. Keywords: Basic Rights, Refugee Children, State Responsibility AbstrakPerang sipil di negara Timur Tengah dan beberapa negara di Afrika menghasilkan gelombang pengungsi yang mencari perlindungan ke Indonesia meningkat setiap tahunnya. Mereka lebih memilih untuk menunggu di negara transit daripada harus merasakan teror dan persekusi di negara asalnya. Indonesia bukan negara peserta Konvensi Jenewa 1951, namun dengan alasan kemanusiaan menampung untuk sementara para pencari suaka sampai status mereka jelas berdasarkan penilaian UNHCR. Sebesar 28% dari pengungsi yang terdaftar di United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Indonesia berumur di bawah 18 tahun. Menjadi anak yang berada di negara transit memang menjauhkan mereka dari ancaman kejahatan perang di negaranya, namun ternyata tidak seluruh hak asasi mereka dapat dipenuhi di negara transit. Konvensi Hak Anak 1989 mengatur kewajiban negara untuk memenuhi hak asasi anak dalam situasi apapun tanpa diskriminasi. Indonesia sebagai negara transit dan juga a peratifikasi Konvensi Hak-hak Anak 1989 (KHA) menghadapi dilema dalam menghadapi anak-anak pencari suaka. Artikel ini akan menganalisa apakah Indonesia melakukan pelanggaran terhadap pemenuhan hak bagi para pengungsi anak sehingga dapat dikenai tanggung jawab negara. Indonesia dapat dikatakan gaal dalam memenuhi kewajibannya berdsarkan KHA sehingga dapat diminta pertanggungjawaban atas kelalalainya. Namun terdapat berbagai upaya yang dapat dilakukan oleh pemerintah Indonesia dengan bekerjasama dengan berbagai Lembaga internasional maupun nasional serta perusahaan untuk mengatasi permasalahan dalam penerapan KHA terutama terkait hak pengungsi anak. Kata Kunci: Hak-Hak Dasar, Pengungsi Anak, Tanggung Jawab Negara

�Nothing ever dies�: memory and marginal children�s voices in Rwandan and Vietnamese narratives

Memory is a highly contested notion insofar as it is claimed by the collective (Halbwachs, Young) and deployed within a variety of political and socio-cultural contexts. For Viet Thanh Nguyen, the �true war story� can be told by those who lived through it, thereby wresting power from �men and soldiers� and dominant structures (Nothing Ever Dies, Harvard UP, 2017: 243). Examining the dialectics of remembering and forgetting, this article examines narratives which reclaim memory as a personal and as a collective plea to understand the structural discrepancy at play from the child, who is victim of war. It examines the memoir of a Tutsi refugee child, Moi, le dernier Tutsi (C. Habonimana, Plon R�cit, 2019) and an autobiographical narrative by a Vietnamese refugee in Canada, Ru (K. Th�y, Liana L�vi, 2010), to gauge the extent to which such narratives create their own memorial spaces and in so doing reclaim their marginal memories and centre them, while grappling with the imperative to forget. Ultimately it tests Nguyen�s theory that memory can be just and that in this ethical recoding of memory, the humanity and inhumanity of both sides is underlined.

Resettlement stressors and family factors in refugee child and adolescent psychopathology

This chapter outlines some of the main stress and protective factors for the mental health of young refugees in resettlement countries. On arrival in resettlement countries the reception for asylum seekers and refugees varies. Some, especially those in sponsored programmes, many receive high support, but many experience hostility, financial hardship, and legal uncertainties. The family may be a buffer to these adversities, but parental psychopathology and strained family relationships may contribute to childhood psychological distress and psychiatric disorder. Unaccompanied refugee minors have experienced higher levels of pre-migration adversities and losses than their accompanied peers, and so are particularly vulnerable. They are less distressed, with higher levels of support, but this may not be offered if their age is disputed. They may experience ongoing daily hassles and acculturative stress. While refugee youngsters have an elevated prevalence of psychiatric disorders especially post-traumatic stress disorder after arrival, over time most achieve improved mental health.