The Evaluation of the Best Interests of the Child in the Choice between Remaining in the Host Country and Repatriation: a Reflection based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child
Author(s): E. Rozzi
The choice of whether unaccompanied children should be repatriated or stay in the host country is an extremely complex and delicate question. The European Council Resolution fits more within the framework of norms aiming to regulate clandestine immigration than that of the protection of children. However, the Convention on the Rights of the Child indicates that the general criterion which should guide this choice is the principle of "best interests of the child". The study argues that the concept of "best interests of the child" and criteria of evaluation need more detailed clarifications. The evaluation of "the best interests of the child" between remaining in the host country and repatriation, in accordance with the principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, must be based on a consideration of the rights outlined by the Convention itself, following a holistic approach and bearing in mind the three general principles of the right to life and development, non-discrimination and participation. The study concludes that children have the real right to express their own opinion freely, with regard to their preference between staying in the host country or being repatriated. Social workers who interview children must not have any interest (in particular of an economic nature) in either favouring or hindering their repatriation, and they should be adequately trained on how to listen to children, and in particular to foreign children.