Human Rights of Children in the Context of Migration Processes: Innovative Efforts for Integrating Regional Human Rights Standards in the Americas

This paper proposes a critical analysis of the innovative jurisprudential approaches taken by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in integrating the content and scope of protection of the human rights of children, in the context of migration processes. How might one provide an effective protection to unaccompanied children that enter irregularly into the territory of a given country, when the safeguards guaranteed at the national level are elusive or inefficient? By focusing on the pioneering jurisprudence developed by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in recent years, this paper intends to unveil how a systemic integration of children’s rights, under the light of the current international law developments, could provide an effective protection for the rights of children in the context of migration processes. In fact, as a result of an evolutive, dynamic and effective interpretation, the regional tribunal has expanded the scope of protection of the American Convention on Human Rights, by taking into consideration and making known, references to instruments and provisions enshrined within the corpus juris of international human rights law, such as the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, and—consequently—improving the level of protection of millions of children in the Americas.