What about the International Rights of a Child ?
7.1 What are children's rights regarding refugee status determination?
Article 22(1) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) requires Australia to take appropriate measures to ensure that asylum-seeking children enjoy their rights under the CRC and the Refugee Convention:(5)
States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure that a child who is seeking refugee status or who is considered a refugee in accordance with applicable international or domestic law and procedures shall, whether unaccompanied or accompanied by his or her parents or by any other person, receive appropriate protection and humanitarian assistance in the enjoyment of applicable rights set forth in the present Convention and in other international human rights or humanitarian instruments to which the said States are Parties.
The protection of refugee children from being returned to the country in which they face persecution (non-refoulement) under the Refugee Convention is one of the fundamental rights of children which Australia has agreed to respect.(6) It will also be a breach of the rights of children if they are returned to a country in which there is a real risk of having their rights under the CRC breached.(7) Australia is therefore required to ensure that there is an effective process to ensure that these rights of children are protected.
Article 22 must be applied in the light of the non-discrimination principle contained in article 2 of the CRC. In the context of refugee status determination, the principle of non-discrimination means that children in detention are entitled to enjoy the same quality of refugee processing as children applying for asylum in the community. However, the impact of the deprivation of liberty may mean that children in detention require additional assistance to enjoy the same quality of process.
The 'best interests' principle in article 3(1) requires decision makers to make a child's best interests a primary consideration in their determinations. Further, article 20(1) of the CRC requires that additional assistance be given to unaccompanied children throughout the refugee status determination process to help them overcome the disadvantages of being separated from their parents.
Finally, article 37(b) of the CRC requires that detention be for the shortest appropriate period of time. Since the length of detention for children seeking asylum is invariably linked to the time it takes to process a child's claim, processing must be prompt for children in detention.(8)
https://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/last-resort-national-inquiry-children-immigration-detent...
Universal Values
The core principles of human rights first set out in the UDHR, such as universality, interdependence and indivisibility, equality and non-discrimination, and that human rights simultaneously entail both rights and obligations from duty bearers and rights owners, have been reiterated in numerous international human rights conventions, declarations, and resolutions. Today, all United Nations member States have ratified at least one of the nine core international human rights treaties, and 80 percent have ratified four or more, giving concrete expression to the universality of the UDHR and international human rights.
How Does International Law Protect Human Rights?
International human rights law lays down obligations which States are bound to respect. By becoming parties to international treaties, States assume obligations and duties under international law to respect, to protect and to fulfil human rights. The obligation to respect means that States must refrain from interfering with or curtailing the enjoyment of human rights. The obligation to protect requires States to protect individuals and groups against human rights abuses. The obligation to fulfil means that States must take positive action to facilitate the enjoyment of basic human rights.
Through ratification of international human rights treaties, Governments undertake to put into place domestic measures and legislation compatible with their treaty obligations and duties. The domestic legal system, therefore, provides the principal legal protection of human rights guaranteed under international law. Where domestic legal proceedings fail to address human rights abuses, mechanisms and procedures for individual and group complaints are available at the regional and international levels to help ensure that international human rights standards are indeed respected, implemented, and enforced at the local level.
http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/hr_law.shtml
PREAMBLE
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,
Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.
http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml
^^^ what does that all mean diamond halo?
