The Protection Of The Best Interests Of Migrant Children Private International Law Perspectives

Migration news stories have, in recent years, captured the world's attention almost daily. Migration is not however a new phenomenon. The first wave of globalisation, between 1870 and 1914 saw as much as 10% of the world's population move permanently to a new country. It is paradoxical therefore that, at the start of the new millennium, migration was still under-researched. The phenomenon may generally be divided into diverse categories: temporary labour migration or highly skilled and business migration; internal or international migration; legal or illegal migration; forced or chosen migration; family reunification migration, return migration... Such typology reflects an approach that largely sees migration as a challenge states and primarily considers it under the angle of international politics and security. Migration can though also be studied from the perspective of the individual migrant. In this whilst it is human rights law which immediately resonates, private international law also has a key role to play. The interface between human rights and private international law as regards issues of migration has not frequently been considered. And this is particularly the case as regards children. Can and do States achieve the protection of the best interests of migrant children in part through the framework of private international law? To answer this question, this article will consider first the relevance of private international law to migrants and migration. It then discusses whether the reliance on private international law rules, methods and approaches, including the increasingly popular connecting factor of habitual residence is adequate as a basis on which to protect the best interests of migrant children.

This open access book offers readers a better understanding of the legal situation of children and families migrating to the EU. Shedding light on the legal, practical, and political difficulties at the intersection of international family law and migration law, it demonstrates that enhanced coordination between these policy areas is crucial to improving the legal situation of families on the move. It not only raises awareness of these “interface” issues and the need for stakeholders in migration law and international family law to collaborate closely, but also identifies deficits in the statutory framework and suggests possible remedies in the form of interpretation and regulatory measures. The book is part of the EU co-financed FAMIMOVE project and includes contributions from international experts, who cover topics such as guardianship, early marriage, age assessment, and kafala from a truly European perspective. The authors’ approach involves a rigorous analysis of the relevant statutory framework, case law, and academic literature, with particular attention given to the best interest of the child in all its facets. The book examines how this principle can be more effectively applied and suggests ways to foster a more fruitful understanding of its regulatory potential. Given its scope and focus, the book will be of interest to researchers, scholars, and practitioners of Private International Law, Family Law, and Migration Law. It makes a valuable contribution to these fields, particularly at their often-overlooked intersections.

This study, commissioned by the European Parliament's Policy Department for Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the JURI Committee, will be presented during a Workshop dedicated to potential and challenges of private international law in the current migratory context. The child's best interests are a primary consideration under international and EU law. EU migration and private international law frameworks regulate child protection, but in an uncoordinated way: the Dublin III and Brussels IIa Regulations are neither aligned nor applied coherently. This should change. In particular, the rules and mechanisms of Brussels IIa should be used to enhance the protection of migrant children. These include rules on jurisdiction to take protective measures, on applicable law, and on recognition and enforcement of protective measures, and mechanisms for cross-border cooperation between authorities.

This volume explores the various challenges faced by ​migrant unaccompanied children, using a clinical sociological approach and a global perspective. It applies a human rights and comparative framework to examine ​the reception of unaccompanied children ​in European, North American, South American, Asian and African countries. Some of the important issues the volume discusses are: access of displaced unaccompanied children to justice across borders and juridical contexts; voluntary guardianship for unaccompanied children; the diverse but complementary needs of unaccompanied children in care, which if left unaddressed can have serious implications on their social integration in the host societies; and the detention of migrant children as analyzed against the most recent European and international human rights law standards. This is a one-of-a-kind volume bringing together perspectives from child rights policy chairs across the world on a global issue. The contributions reflect the authors’ diverse cultural contexts and academic and professional backgrounds, and hence, this volume synthesizes theory with practice through rich firsthand experiences, along with theoretical discussions. It is addressed not only to academics and professionals working on and with migrant children, but also to a wider, discerning public interested in a better understanding of the rights of unaccompanied children.

This study, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the JURI Committee, will be presented during a Workshop dedicated to potential and challenges of private international law in the current migratory context. The child’s best interests are a primary consideration under international and EU law. EU migration and private international law frameworks regulate child protection, but in an uncoordinated way: the Dublin III and Brussels IIa Regulations are neither aligned nor applied coherently. This should change. In particular, the rules and mechanisms of Brussels IIa should be used to enhance the protection of migrant children. These include rules on jurisdiction to take protective measures, on applicable law, and on recognition and enforcement of protective measures, and mechanisms for cross-border cooperation between authorities.

International scholars from different disciplines examine the experiences of unaccompanied migrant children before, throughout, and after their journeys and analyze US and European policy changes in national and international law. Several theologians explore new approaches to a Catholic social ethics of child migration.

This study, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the JURI Committee, will be presented during a Workshop dedicated to potential and challenges of private international law in the current migratory context. The child’s best interests are a primary consideration under international and EU law. EU migration and private international law frameworks regulate child protection, but in an uncoordinated way: the Dublin III and Brussels IIa Regulations are neither aligned nor applied coherently. This should change. In particular, the rules and mechanisms of Brussels IIa should be used to enhance the protection of migrant children. These include rules on jurisdiction to take protective measures, on applicable law, and on recognition and enforcement of protective measures, and mechanisms for cross-border cooperation between authorities.

Unprecedented numbers of children are crossing international borders seeking safety. Framed around compelling case studies explaining why children are on the move in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania, this book explores the jurisprudence and processes used by nations to adjudicate children’s protection claims. The book includes contributions from leading scholars in immigration, refugee law, children’s rights and human trafficking which critically examine the strengths and weaknesses of international and domestic laws with the aim of identifying best practice for migrant children.

Increasing numbers of children are on the move throughout the world: moving or migrating, alone or accompanied. This gives rise to many new problems with legal, economic, social and cultural aspects, calling for new approaches based on a world-wide perspective. The international mobility of children poses a special challenge for the protection of their family environment, as guaranteed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international instruments. Children on the Move contains the texts and speeches given and the papers presented at the international conference of the same title, which took place at the Hague, the Netherlands, 23-26 October 1994. The conference was one of the major contributions of the Netherlands to the UN International Year of the Family and was convened by the Netherlands Committee for the International Year of the Family in collaboration with the Hague Conference on Private International Law. Children on the Move provides the reader with an in-depth analysis of the various legal aspects (problems and remedies) of inter-country adoption, international child abduction, and children as international refugees.

Millions of children are on the move, both within and between countries, with or without their parents. The conditions under which movement takes place are often treacherous, putting migrant children, especially unaccompanied and separated children, at an increased risk of economic or sexual exploitation, abuse, neglect and violence. Policy responses to protect and support these migrant children are often fragmented and inconsistent and while children on the move have become a recognised part of today's global and mixed migration flows they are still largely invisible in debates on both child protection and migration.