HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION FOR VULNERABLE ASYLUM APPLICANTS

The Portuguese asylum application process for the unaccompanied minors 3 2. Theoretical Framework 2.1. Unaccompanied minors and Asylum Children are fully entitled to all human/fundamental rights, as well as they are sub- ject to special legislation, due to their specific characteristics and vulnerability. How- ever, it was not until the end of the 19 th century that those rights were declared and recognized followed by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989 7 . Until that point, children were considered as “property” of their parents and were fully in- volved in labour as they were not considered as vulnerable and incapable of making decisions of their own regarding their best interests 8 . The UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989 sets a new framework that was developed specifically aiming to highlight the primacy of the best interests of the child. The child is recognized as the holder of his/her human rights which do not de- rive from or depend on the rights of parents or any other adults. It is no wonder that the traumas suffered during childhood lead to more complex and devasting conse- quences than those in adulthood due to the difference of maturity and emotional development. Let alone in the case of separated and unaccompanied children (UAM) who reach the border of a foreign country. Nowadays, the tough reality and the spe- cial needs of refugee children represent one of the greatest concerns of contempo- rary society, especially after the commence of the refugee crisis in 2015. Every year, thousands flee away from their countries, separated from their families, as victims or at risk of exploitation and abuse. The Convention of Geneva in 1951 9 defines in Article 1(a)(2) the concept of refugee as a person who has been “ […] persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, mem- bership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his na- tionality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protec- tion of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is un- willing to return to it.” As there are no special provisions on the recognition of refugee status for minors, presumably the aforementioned definition applies to all individu- als regardless of age. Given that, the UNHCR 10 has established substantive and pro- cedural guidelines to carry out refugee status determination as far as minor are con- 7. UN Convention on Children’s Rights (1989). Ratified in Portugal in September 21st 1990. 8. Tobin, J. (2012). Courts and the Construction of Childhood: A NewWay of Thinking. Law and Child- hood Studies: Current Legal Issues, Oxford University Press, vol. 14. 9. UNCHR (1951). Convention and protocol relating to the status of refugees . Retrieved from: https:// www.unhcr.org/3b66c2aa10.pdf#zoom= 95. 10. UNHCR. (2017). Aguide to international refugee protection and building state asylumsystems . Hand- book for Parliamentarians N, 27. Retrieved from: https://www.unhcr.org/3d4aba564.pdf.