Children and Refugee Law
The special protections owed to refugee children, unaccompanied minors, and the intersection of the CRC with refugee law.
The Most Vulnerable
Children make up about 40 percent of the world's refugees but face disproportionate risks. They are vulnerable to exploitation, trafficking, forced recruitment by armed groups, child labor, and sexual violence. Displacement disrupts their education, separates them from family members, and causes lasting psychological trauma. UNHCR estimates that at any given time, over 300,000 unaccompanied and separated children are among the world's displaced.
The legal framework for protecting refugee children draws on both refugee law and children's rights. The CRC requires that in all actions concerning children, the best interests of the child be a primary consideration. The UNHCR Guidelines on Child Asylum Claims recognize that children may have their own asylum claims, independent of their parents, and that child-specific forms of persecution include forced recruitment, child marriage, trafficking, and FGM.