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Alone And Ignored: Unaccompanied Alien Children Seeking Asylum In The United States, Canada And Australia, Ani E. Ajemian

Ani E Ajemian

The United States, Canada and Australia have enacted asylum legislation comporting with the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. Each of these three countries has also signed onto the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, although only Canada has completed ratification. The asylum legislation in place applies equally to child applicants, yet under a standard meant for adults. This misapplication requires children to articulate their claim as intelligently as an adult, seek their own counsel, and often be detained with adults and sometimes criminals in the …