The following is a list of international standards that are relevant to the protection of children in migration and mobility. These standards are legally binding conventions, treaties and directives. The international legal framework concerning children in migration and mobility provides safeguards in relation to asylum and international protection, labour regulations, the prevention of sexual exploitation and trafficking in human beings, international standards for migrant workers, child victims of crime and the judiciary, as well as international private law for child protection and family matters.

International International standards of the United Nations, once adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations, are open to signature and ratification by UN Member States worldwide. When a national government ratifies a Convention, the standards afforded under the Convention have to be reflected in national law and policy and become thereby applicable law in the country. The same procedure of ratification applies to the Conventions of the Council of Europe and the Hague Conference of Private International Law. In addition to the Member States of these inter-governmental organisations, non-Member States can also accede to the Conventions.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child defines the human rights of children and the correlated obligations of states. It provides also for obligations of parents and caregivers, public authorities, private service providers and the private sector. These rights and obligations can guide caseworkers and case officers in all measures, decisions and considerations for children on the move. The convention supports caseworkers and officers in navigating the complex body of international, European and national laws. It provides the overarching framework and the strongest point of reference for safeguarding children.

The convention is complemented by three Optional Protocols, one on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, another one on the involvement of children in armed conflict, and a third and more recent Protocol on a communications procedure for children. States that have ratified the Convention report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the international Treaty Body mandated to monitor the implementation of the convention by States Parties. The Committee reviews and comments on State Party reports on the implementation of the Convention and develops General Comments, in which it elaborates on specific articles of the convention.

The Hague Conference on Private International Law The Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) is a global inter-governmental organisation that has developed standards for the transnational cooperation on child protection and family matters. The key themes addressed by the Conventions of the Hague Conference include transnational child protection, inter-country adoption, cross-border parental child abduction as well as matters of parental responsibility and contact involving different countries.

The Hague Conventions in the area of transnational child protection and family law have several common characteristics. They ensure the automatic mutual recognition of official decisions taken by one Contracting State in other Contracting States. They enable and facilitate the cooperation between the Contracting States, including through the establishment of central authorities and the development of unified procedures. By facilitating practical matters, such as the translation of documents, information exchange and the use of standardised model forms, the Conventions aim to simplify and expedite cross-border procedures and the enforcement of official decisions.

The Hague Conventions are innovative as they work primarily with the concept of habitual residence of the child, rather than nationality, in order to determine which state has the jurisdiction over a case.

The UN Refugee Convention and its Protocol The UN Refugee Convention and its Protocol regulate the right of persons to seek international protection. Children enjoy special safeguards and have a right to have their asylum application examined individually. Child-specific grounds of persecution need to be considered irrespective of whether the child applies alone or together with a parent or caregiver. The European Union Member States have re-elaborated these standards for the EU context and have adopted a series of Directives regulating the qualification and reception conditions of asylum seekers in the EU as well as asylum procedures and matters of return.Commissioner for Refugees, Guidelines on International Protection, Child Asylum Claims, 2009.

Council of Europe

The European Social Charter The European Social Charter sets out rights and freedoms and establishes a supervisory mechanism mandated to monitor how States Parties implement the Charter in practice. The rights afforded under the Charter concern all individuals in their daily lives as they relate, for instance, to housing, health, education, employment, legal and social protection, free movement of persons and non-discrimination. The Charter was first adopted in 1961 and was subsequently revised. The 1996 revised European Social Charter entered into force in 1999.

The European Committee of Social Rights issued in October 2015 a Statement of interpretation on the rights of refugees under the European Social Charter, which provides guidance on the application of the European Social Charter to refugees and asylum seekers.

Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (2007) The Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse is the first instrument to establish the various forms of sexual abuse and exploitation of children as criminal offences, including abuse committed in the home or family, with the use of force, coercion or threats. Preventive measures outlined in the Convention include the screening, recruitment and training of persons working in contact with children, making children aware of the risks and teaching them to protect themselves, as well as monitoring measures for offenders and potential offenders.

The convention also establishes programmes to support victims, encourages people to report suspected sexual exploitation and abuse, and sets up telephone and internet helplines for children. It ensures that certain types of conduct are classified as criminal offences, such as engaging in sexual activities with a child below the legal age and the sexual exploitation of children in prostitution and pornography. The Convention criminalises the solicitation of children for sexual purposes (child grooming) and by travelling sex offenders who can be prosecuted for some offences even when the act is committed abroad. The Convention ensures that child victims are protected during judicial proceedings, for example with regard to their identity and privacy.

Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (2005) The Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings is a comprehensive treaty mainly focused on the protection of victims of trafficking and the safeguard of their rights. It also aims at preventing trafficking as well as prosecuting traffickers. The Convention applies to all forms of trafficking; whether national or transnational, whether or not related to organised crime and whoever the victim, women, men or children and whatever the form of exploitation, sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, or other.

The Convention provides for the setting up of an independent monitoring mechanism (GRETA), which monitors the States Parties' compliance with its provisions.

European Union

Directives – EU law Within the European Union, EU Directives are legally binding and constitute EU law that needs to be transposed into the national law of Member States within a prescribed period of time. When countries infringe against or violate European standards that are in force within the country, the European Courts offer the possibility to seek legal remedy and to claim the rights afforded under international or European law.

Reception Conditions Directive The Council Directive 2003/9/EC of 27 January 2003 laying down minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers sets out minimum reception standards for asylum applicants. The aim is to ensure that the applicants have a dignified standard of living and that comparable living conditions are afforded to them in all Member States. At the same time, the Directive also limits asylum applicants' secondary movements.

Asylum Procedures Directive The Directive 2013/32/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection repealed Directive 2005/85/EC on minimum standards on procedures for granting and withdrawing refugee status in European Union countries and sets up EU-wide procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection (refugee status and the protection given to people who are not refugees but who would risk serious harm if returned to their country of origin).

Qualification Directive The full name of the Qualification Directive is the Directive 2011/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection, and for the content of the protection granted.

The Qualification Directive establishes common grounds to grant international protection. Its provisions also foresee a series of rights on protection from non refoulement, residence permits, travel documents, access to employment, access to education, social welfare, healthcare, access to accommodation, access to integration facilities, as well as specific provisions for children and vulnerable persons.

Dublin III Regulation With the full name Regulation (EU) No 604/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national or a stateless person.

Regulation (EU) No 604/2013 (Dublin III Council Regulation), replacing Council Regulation (EC) No 343/2003 (Dublin II Regulation), lays down the criteria and mechanisms for determining which EU country is responsible for examining an asylum application.

Return Directive The Directive 2008/115/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on common standards and procedures in Member States for returning illegally staying third-country nationals establishes common standards and procedures for EU countries, whereby illegally staying non-EU nationals may be removed from their territories. It lays down provisions for terminating illegal stays, detaining non-EU nationals with the aim of removing them and procedural safeguards.

Family Reunification Directive