Reconceptualising Unaccompanied Child Asylum Seekers and the Law

Name: Reconceptualising Unaccompanied Child Asylum Seekers and the Law
Brand: Taylor & Francis

Taylor & Francis

Unaccompanied child asylum seekers are amongst the world\u2019s most vulnerable populations, and their numbers are increasing. The intersection of their age, their seeking asylum, and separation from their parents creates a specific and acute triple burden of vulnerability. Their precariousness has long been recognised in international human rights law. Yet, human rights-based responses have been subordinated to progressive global securitisation of irregular migration through interception, interdiction, extraterritorial processing and immigration detention. Such an approach necessitates an urgent paradigm shift in how we comprehend their needs as children, the impact of punitive border control laws on them, and the responsibility of States to these children when they arrive at their borders seeking asylum.