Arendt’s Children: Do Today’s Migrant Children Have a Right to Have Rights?

TLDR

Large numbers of child migrants, termed “Arendt’s children,” are functionally stateless and, despite international law guaranteeing them rights to protection, family life, education, and health care, these rights remain unenforceable and their access to willing state protection is tenuous. The article surveys obstacles to rights enforcement across multiple jurisdictions and contexts. The authors conduct a survey of these obstacles across jurisdictions and contexts. The article argues that Arendt’s children, due to their disenfranchised and precarious status, have a stronger claim for effective advocacy and enforcement of their human rights than has been recognized.

Abstract

Large numbers of child migrants today—here referred to as “Arendt’s children”—are functionally stateless, whether or not they have a legal nationality. The fundamental rights to protection, family life, education, and health care that these children have, in theory, under international law are unenforceable in practice. Moreover, their access to state entities willing and able to protect them is tenuous at best. This article surveys the obstacles to rights enforcement across a range of jurisdictions and contexts. It argues that, given their disenfranchised and precarious situation, these children have a stronger claim than has so far been acknowledged to effective advocacy and enforcement of their human rights within the states where they live.