A situação da criança solicitante de refúgio: uma análise do parecer opinativo nº 21 da corte interamericana de direitos humanos e sua aplicação na América Latina

Abstract

Refugee rights became internationally protected after Second World War, by the 1951 Refugees Status Convention and then added on by the 1967 Protocol, recognizing as refugees those who leaves their countries because they suffer or have fears of suffering persecution by reason of race, religion, nationality, membership of a social group or political view. Subsequently, in 1959, child and adolescent protection gained new contours with the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, which extended to children the category of subjects of right. However, the protection of this social group within the refuge was still deficient, due to lack of jus cogens norms that determine the actions of the States towards children in refuge situations, especially when separated or unaccompanied. Thus, Advisory Opinion No. 21 of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights was issued in 2014, requested by Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, in order to clarify the measures to be adopted by the state authorities when they encounter refugee children. The present work has the purpose to highlight the rights granted to refugees in general, and then to highlight the specific rights of children and adolescents in this context. Finally, it seeks to ascertain whether these rights are respected in the countries requesting the Opinion. The applied methodology was bibliographical, resorting to research on books, articles and thesis.