A PPROACHES, PRINCIPLES AND OBLIGATIONS: MIGRANT BOYS, GIRLS AND ADOLESCENTS

1. APPROACHES, PRINCIPLES AND OBLIGATIONS:MIGRANT BOYS, GIRLS AND ADOLESCENTS Mercedes ÁlvarezRudín – Regional Technical Expert, Mesoamerica Programme REGIONAL WORKSHOP. COMPREHENSIVE PROTECTION OF MIGRANT BOYS, GIRLS AND ADOLESCENTS: ACTIONS, PRINCIPLES AND BEST PRACTICES. RCM – San Salvador, August 19-20, 2015

3. A RIGHTS APPROACH • Boys, girls and adolescents as subjects of rights. • Boys, girls and adolescents: rights holders. The State, communities, families and society: holders of obligations (collective responsibility). • State obligations: to respect, protect and promote human rights in their entirety (including civil rights as well as political, economic, social and cultural rights of specific populations). • Institutional services: a way to specify the State obligations. • Obligations – not favours. • Human rights are for every individual, considered to be equal in rights and dignity, without any discrimination whatsoever (including nationality and migration status).

4. A GENDER APPROACH • Based on biological/physical characteristics related to gender, unequal power relations between men and women have been built. Mandates, roles and expectations that mainly affect women and the exercise of their rights. A patriarchal society. • Women and the female are devalued. Control over the lives and bodies of women. Limiting their autonomy. • Household and caretaker work (indispensable for the reproduction of life and the preservation of society) is not recognized socially and financially. Women face greater difficulty to participate socially and politically. Global care chains. • Violence against women, including sexual violence and abuse, as an expression of inequality, a way to exercise power and control. • Invisibility of their experiences, contributions, visions and projects (including migration). GIRLS AND ADOLESCENTS SHOULD BE SEEN! • Articulation of oppressions (intersectionalism).

5. A DIVERSITY APPROACH • Recognizing specificities, realities and differentiated needs related to ethnic origin, national origin, motivations to migrate, language, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic condition, etc. Includes recognizing vulnerabilities, threats and risks in a differentiated manner. • Oriented toward ensuring non-discrimination and non-exclusion (not discriminating does not mean treating everyone in the same way). • Recognizing that the diversities are affected by power inequalities – in terms of access to resources and services, access to having a voice and being heard, access to enjoyment of rights, access to being cared for and protected... Inequalities built socially, historically and culturally.

6. AN INTERCULTURALITY APPROACH • Recognizing different ethnic and cultural characteristics and those related to national origin. • Identifying inequalities between different ethnic groups, cultures, nationalities. • Racism and discrimination against indigenous and Afro populations. • Xenophobia against migrant populations. • Interculturality seeks recognition of and respect for every culture; a relationship of mutual enrichment. A GENERATIONAL APPROACH • Recognizing adultcentrism. • Identifying discrimination against populations of “non-productive” age. • Recognizing the value and contributions of different generations. Supporting solidarity between generations.

7. What happens with applying a human rights approach when migration policies prioritize other approaches, such as national security? • What happens with applying this approach when the persons that have the power to make decisions and are in charge of providing assistance apply their personal and religious morals to make public decisions? • What happens with applying a human rights approach when a patriarchal, adult-centred, xenophobic, racist vision prevails? • What implication does this have for the possibility of providing effective protection to migrant boys, girls and adolescents and protecting their rights?

8. The principles involve obligations

9. THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD • Involves prioritizing decisions that promote the full enjoyment of their human rights. Decisions that favour their human rights instead of the opinion or discretional power of the person making the decision. • Three dimensions: • Aright (the right to have the best interest of the child used as the criterion for making decisions that affect the boy, girl or adolescent); • A principle (if various interpretations exist, that which is in the best interest of the child prevails); and • A procedure (criteria and clearly defined steps to assess and determine the best interest of the child and monitor its compliance, should be documented). • Should be applied in every decision or measure concerning boys, girls and adolescents. SHOULD BE APPLIED AND JUSTIFIED AND DOCUMENTED AT EACH PHASE OF THE MIGRATION PROCESS. And should be followed up on.

10. DETERMINING THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD Includes two actions: • Assessment: • Specific circumstances are assessed that make the boy, girl or adolescent unique. Inquiries are required. • The elements that are necessary for a decision relating to a boy, girl or adolescent or a group of boys, girls or adolescents are assessed and considered. • Determining: • A structured process with guarantees to determine the best interest of the child based on the assessment.

11. Assessing the best interest of the child. Aspects to consider: • The opinion of the boy, girl or adolescent; • The identity of the boy, girl or adolescent; • Preserving the family environment and maintaining family links; • Care, protection and safety of the boy, girl or adolescent; • Vulnerable situation; • The right to health of the boy, girl or adolescent; • The right to education of the boy, girl or adolescent.

12. Determining the best interest of the child. Aspects to consider. • The right of the boy, girl or adolescent to express their own opinion; • Identifying facts; • Perception of time; • Trained professionals; • Legal representation; • Legal arguments; • Mechanisms to review decisions; • Assessing the impact on the rights of the boy, girl or adolescent.

13. Based on international instruments, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Comment No. 6 of the Committe on the Rights of the Child, Advisory Opinion of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (OC-21/14), General Comment No. 14 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.