ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the right of the child to seek and qualify for international protection. This right requires some explanation, for two reasons. First, the right to seek international protection, as distinct from the right of non-refoulement, is not uncontested in international law. Second, the right to qualify for international protection presupposes that the applicant meets the qualification criteria. The right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights finds no equivalent in the legally binding International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The right to asylum shall be guaranteed with due respect for the rules of the Geneva Convention of 18 July 1951 and the Protocol of 31 January 1967 relating to the status of refugees and in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community.
