EuropaWorld 9/3/2001 Children, Conflict And Asylum

Ms Maj-Inger Klingvall, Sweden's Minister for Development Co-operation, Migration and Asylum, Argues that the Needs and Views of Children should be Taken Fully into Account in Formulating EU Policies on Development Assistance and Asylum.

Over two million children have been killed in armed conflicts during the past decade. Over a million children have become orphaned and more than six million have been seriously injured or disabled because of armed conflicts. Twenty million children have been driven from their homes. There are 300 000 child soldiers in the world.

These frightening figures demonstrate how the rights of the child are being violated every day in modern war. Children are no longer mere victims of armed conflicts. They have become targets in wars aiming not only at dominating peoples and countries, but also at humiliating and destroying societies and cultures.

Armed conflicts have changed in character during the past decade. It is no longer the defence forces of different countries that are fighting against each other. The majority of conflicts are now internal, sometimes with several contending parties. Ethnic groups, neighbours, school mates, work colleagues become each other's enemies. War forces its way into the everyday lives of human beings, and into the world of the child, in a manner previously unknown.

Graça Machel, who in a UN assignment of 1996 presented a review of children in armed conflict talks about "our collective failure to protect children in armed conflicts". In her follow-up report published last autumn, she appeals to the world's leaders to take responsibility for these children.

Despite the fact that much remains to be done for the human rights of the child in armed conflicts to be fully respected, some positive signs are to be seen. There exists today a greater awareness of the situation of children in armed conflicts, an awareness that has resulted in the issue being placed high on the international political agenda. Children have become more visible, both in peace processes and peace agreements. More and more international organisations are mobilising not only resources but also a commitment towards children and young people who in various ways are drawn into armed conflicts throughout the world.

We should not forget either that the world's leaders have never before been so united in the belief that children are entitled to the right to protection against war and misery. The UN Security Council has adopted two resolutions where all violence against children is condemned. There is a global basic value system which has been strengthened and developed during recent years.

Work to promote the rights of the child has made substantial progress. An example of this is the Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1989 and which has now been signed by all the states of the world apart from the USA and Somalia. Another milestone is the optional protocol of the Convention on the Rights of the Child which prohibits all forced recruitment to military service of children under the age of 18.

These commitments are binding. The countries of the world must now coordinate their efforts for children in armed conflict and displaced children. I believe that the EU has an important role to play in this.

We know that armed conflict, poverty and social unrest are reasons for driving people from their homes to become refugees by leaving their countries. In addition, many people leave their home countries in the hope of creating a more secure and better future for their children.

We know too that the situation of the children is often a crucial factor in people's decisions to return - or not to return - to their home countries after a conflict. Many families have remained, for example, in Sarajevo because they do not wish to return to their former homes, not because their security is threatened but because the situation for their children, such as their schooling, has not been organised in a satisfactory manner.

The right of children and young people to education is a key issue. To protect school buildings and teachers and to retain children and young people at school is of fundamental importance both for the children themselves and for society as a whole. Teaching helps to create context and meaning for children in the chaotic situation that an armed conflict represents. Assistance towards education during an ongoing conflict is now being established as the fourth corner stone of humanitarian development assistance, along with food, accommodation and health care. And correspondingly, education must be a right for children seeking asylum and residence permits in our European countries.

Children and young people's rights to psychosocial rehabilitation, is likewise a central issue, both for the individual health and well-being of the child and for a future peace process. The right of the child and young person to be heard, will throw light to ways in which the power and energy of children and young people can be harnessed during the different phases of an armed conflict and during its reconstruction. The right of the child asylum seeker to be heard in the asylum process is another aspect of this theme.

I want the EU countries to fulfil the needs and rights of the child in their development assistance policies and in the work of harmonising European asylum and migration policies. Children's issues should be prominent on the EU agenda. The EU Commission has presented two directive proposals, one on asylum procedures and the other on conditions for temporary protection. A proposal will soon be presented for consideration by the Council of Ministers on minimum levels for the reception of asylum seekers. The right of children to education and psychosocial rehabilitation and their entitlement to express their opinions are important building blocks in a harmonised asylum policy.

The above is a shortened version of an article first published by Ms Maj-Inger Klingvall on the Swedish Presidency website: www.eu2001.se