What Other Countries Do
How do other countries respond to asylum seekers and in particular the question of whether children should be detained at all, or if so, under what circumstances and for how long?
Comparison of Australia, UK, USA and Canada
Detention, Children and Asylum Seekers
A comparative study by the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, Monash University.
January 2003
"[In UK, USA, Canada] there is a presumption that children are in a special category and should be released into the community as soon as practicable."
Report on Children in Detention in Australia
Prepared by Australian Parliamentary Library, October 2003
An overview and a guide to the internet resources, research and comment on the issue of the detention of children in Australia
Comparisons: seeking asylum
"Turbulent global events see thousands of people flee their homelands every year in search of a better life elsewhere.
How do wealthy countries like Australia and Canada deal with asylum seekers who arrive on their shores? Given that both countries are signatories to the 1951 UN Convention on the Rights of Refugees, what similarities and differences are there between the way they determine who is eligible, the steps asylum seekers must take to have their cases heard and the type of lives they have while their fates are being decided?
This site allows you to actively explore the refugee experience from the time of arrival to the point of decision and to compare alternative processing models."
New Zealand
Refugee Council of New Zealand
New Zealand Refugee Law - RefNZ
Freedom's Ramparts on the Sea" The Detention of Asylum Seekers in New Zealand
Human Rights Foundation of Aotearoa New Zealand
Refugee Council of New Zealand Inc. May 2002
This report includes an assessment of NZ practice against UNHCR guideline on detention of persons under the Age of 18 years.
UK
ChilOut UK
Refugee Council
UNICEF UK - Refugee and Asylum Seeking Children
AsylumSupport.info - Special Feature on Children
USA
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service
US Committee for Refugees
Lost in the Labyrinth: Detention of Asylum Seekers in the USA
Detention Watch Network
Europe
Separated Children in Europe Programme
"Recent years have seen a steady rise in the numbers of separated children arriving in European countries. At the same time experience has shown that the treatment they receive upon and after arrival is at best, not adequate and at worst, potentially damaging. The way in which these children are treated when arriving in Europe requires special attention in terms of protection during and after the asylum process and interim care, particularly in the present climate of restrictive asylum and immigration practices."
What international law says
A background paper on the legal status of child asylum seekers including refugee status determination, and guardianship of unaccompanied children. HREOC, January 2002.