Introduction

In 2015, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that worldwide there were 21.3 million refugees, ¹ 51 per cent of whom were children. While children remain less likely to apply for asylum than their adult counterparts, there has been an increase in both the number of child refugees and child asylum seekers, globally. ² In 2015, the number of asylum applications submitted by or on behalf of separated or unaccompanied children trebled year on year, from 34,300 in 2014 to 98,400 in 2015. ³ It would be logical to assume, given these numbers, that children would be a highly visible group within refugee law and refugee discourse, in particular in relation to their qualification as refugees. This, however, has not been the case to date.