Rikhof, Joseph --- "Child soldiers and asylum - duality or dilemma?" [2019] ELECD 1719; in Drumbl, A. Mark; Barrett, C. Jastine (eds), "Research Handbook on Child Soldiers" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 390

Book Title: Research Handbook on Child Soldiers

Editor(s): Drumbl, A. Mark; Barrett, C. Jastine

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 18

Section Title: Child soldiers and asylum – duality or dilemma?

Author(s): Rikhof, Joseph

Number of pages: 18

Abstract/Description:

This chapter takes the perspective of immigration and refugee law. It examines the situation of children caught in the predicament of involuntary departure from their homes due to turmoil caused by war, precarious human rights situations or natural disasters. After an overview of the general precepts of immigration and refugee law in respect of adults and children, the chapter then focuses on the approach taken with regard to children who have been involved in armed conflict. While these constitute a very small number of the total cases processed, they are often high-profile, as well as exceedingly thorny from a humanitarian perspective, as they present the same dilemma as remarked upon in other chapters of this book, namely, the duality inherent in children involved in armed conflict who are at the same time a victim of crimes and inhumane circumstances while also a conveyer of the same type of misery upon others. The chapter provides a comparative analysis of the practice in a number of countries which have addressed this duality. It ends by offering some overarching conclusions in this complex area of law.