Refugee, Displaced, and Migrant Children

Refugee, internally displaced, and migrant children are among the world's most vulnerable populations and are at particular risk of abuse when they are separated from their parents and other caregivers. 

Refugee children suffer from war or other forms of persecution in their countries of origin, and many refugee children continue to suffer human rights abuses in countries of asylum. More than half of the world's refugees are children, yet their rights and special protection needs as children are frequently neglected.  The human rights abuses that drive children into flight are only the first chapter of hardship for many refugee children. Even after traveling across an international border to seek refuge, they remain vulnerable to hazardous labor exploitation, physical abuse, denial of education, routine detention, sexual violence and exploitation, cross-border attacks, militarization of refugee camps, and recruitment as child soldiers.

Internally displaced children and their families often confront urgent challenges in providing for their basic necessities after they have been forcibly displaced from their homes.  Displaced children are entitled to attend schools after displacement, but in practice they face significant hurdles in continuing their education.  Some children are turned away because they are asked to produce school records or forms of identification they no longer possess.  Others are denied enrollment because schools have no room for them.  In many cases, the matriculation fees and related costs of schooling prevent them from attending.

Because internally displaced persons have not crossed an international border, they are not refugees as that term is used in international law, and the international protections offered to refugees do not apply to them.  Their situation as internally displaced persons is addressed in a separate, nonbinding set of international standards, contained in the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.

Migrant children cross international borders for a variety of reasons. Many seek economic opportunities as they escape poverty and abusive environments. They are routinely treated foremost as illegal immigrants rather than children entitled to and in need of protection. The routine and widespread use of detention of migrant children is not only in itself often a breach of international obligations but may lead to additional abuses if migrant children are mixed with adult or criminal populations or subjected to punitive measures such as solitary confinement.  Detention often results in additional restrictions on their right to education and on their assistance needs as a result of trauma, abuse, neglect and exploitation.

Child asylum seekers face particular challenges in their attempt to gain access to a host country after fleeing countries torn by war, ethnic strife, and grave human rights abuse. Often, there are restrictions on the child asylum seekers' rights to basic material support, such as food and housing.  In some cases, child asylum seekers as young as four have been frequently interviewed without a lawyer or guardian present. Moreover, Human Rights Watch received a number of reports of asylum interviews with children that focused on detailed questions that were inappropriate in light of the children's age and maturity.

Please see the following reports for more information:

Refugees
Promises Broken: Refugee Children
World Report 2002 Section on Children's Rights: Refugee Children

HRW Focus on Human Rights: Civil War in Sierra Leone
HRW Campaign Page

Forgotten Children of War: Sierra Leonean Refugee Children in Guinea
Report, July 1999

Sierra Leonean Refugee Children Neglected
Press Release, July 29, 1999

Parties to Sierra Leone War Urged Not to Recruit Child Soldiers
Press Release, May 31, 1999

Internally Displaced Children
Columbia - Displaced and Discarded: The Plight of Internally Displaced Persons in Bogotá and Cartagena
http://hrw.org/reports/2005/colombia1005/index.htm

Migrant Children
Nowhere to Turn: State Abuses of Unaccompanied Migrant Children by Spain and Morocco
Report, May 2002
Español  Français  Arabic

Spain and Morocco Abuse Child Migrants
Press Release, May 7, 2002
Español  Français  

FLEETING REFUGE:  The Triumph of Efficiency over Protection in Dutch Asylum Policy

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/netherlands0403/
Report, April 2003
Summary and Recs in Dutch

Children in Detention
Detained and Deprived of Rights: Children in INS Custody

HRW Campaign Page
Detained and Deprived of Rights: Children in the Custody of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
Report, December 1998

Slipping Through The Cracks: Unaccompanied Children Detained by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
Report, April 1997

The Other Immigrant Children
Editorial by Jo Becker

• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees www.UNHCR.org
• Council of Europe
• Norwegian Refugee Council
• Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, formerly Global IDP Project
• International Detention Coalition
• Jesuit Refugee Service
• Separated Children in Europe Program
• Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants in Europe
• No Minors in Detention