Children in the border. The role of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the protection of Rights of migrant children in illegal

Abstract

Migration is a common fact in America. Almost every country in this continent constantly expels and receives population. As a consequence national authorities have had to develop public policies for managing these human flows. These policies, as required by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights should be incorporated the safeguarding of the rights of migrants as one of its objectives. The rights of children must have a special place in this polices, because the high vulnerability of these boys and girls. However, in America, there are not internationally established rules to guide national authorities in the design and implementation of measures for the treatment of these children. In order to fill this gap, a group of States of the Southern Cone asked the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, on July 2011, to produce an advisory opinion to define, in a very clear way, the rights of migrant children and the related state obligations for warranty. This paper, based on the analysis of several international legal instruments, proposes the answer the Court should give to their questions. Key-words: Childrens; Rights; migration; Interamerican Court of Human Rights.