This thesis addresses the question of whether the EU Common European Asylum System (CEAS) complies with the rights of the child. A significant proportion of people seeking asylum in EU countries... Show moreThis thesis addresses the question of whether the EU Common European Asylum System (CEAS) complies with the rights of the child. A significant proportion of people seeking asylum in EU countries are children. These children may be totally alone, with people who are not their customary caregivers or with members of their immediate family. In recognition of this phenomenon, the instruments that make up the CEAS often make specific provision for children, demonstrating an awareness on the part of the EU legislator of the existence and special needs of asylum-seeking children. However, the question arises as to whether these provisions and the instruments as a whole comply with the rights of the child. This question is particularly pertinent at the moment because respecting and promoting the rights of the child is a new legal and policy imperative of the EU and, furthermore, the CEAS is moving from its first to its second phase - a process that involves recasting most of the instruments. This book identifies key rights of the child that are relevant to the asylum context and explores the meaning of those rights as a matter of international and regional human rights law. It contrasts the normative requirements of those rights with the treatment of children in the CEAS, Phase One and proposed Phase Two. Show less
