This article appears in the following Refugee Survey Quarterly issue: CHILDREN AT RISK [View the issue table of contents]
Protection Responses to Unaccompanied and Separated Refugee Children in Mixed Migration Situations
*Anthony Macdonald is a lawyer with special interest in child protection and child protection systems in emergencies and in development settings. He is currently coordinating a two-year EU funded project for UNHCR's Division of International Protection Services to develop and draft Inter-Agency Operational Guidelines on child protection systems in emergencies. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the United Nations or UNHCR.
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Abstract |
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This article sets out the main gaps which exist concerning the protection responses to unaccompanied and separated refugee children in mixed migration flows. It represents a summary of a more extensive study conducted and completed by the author and is not an exhaustive examination of all the major issues concerning unaccompanied and separated refugee children. Rather, it seeks to contribute to the research and work being undertaken by others in this area by focusing on what the author identified and perceived as the main individual and systemic protection gaps in the responses to date by national authorities and the international community to the needs of unaccompanied and separated refugee children. The article identifies and analyses some of the main barriers to providing an effective response and offers some recommendations as to possible solutions.